IND v ENG 2025: "I haven't seen a better T20 hundred”- Gautam Gambhir praises Abhishek Sharma’s knock in Mumbai T20I

Abhishek Sharma hit 135 in 54 balls with 13 sixes and 7 fours to his name.

Abhishek Sharma | Getty

Abhishek Sharma, the Indian opener, was heartily praised by India head coach Gautam Gambhir for his match-winning hundred in the 5th and final T20I against England in Mumbai. Abhishek Sharma scored 135 runs with 7 fours and 13 sixes to his name.

Abhishek Sharma hit the second-fastest century by an Indian in 37 balls and the second-fastest fifty by an Indian in 17 balls. His 135 was the highest T20I score by an Indian batter and he hit the most sixes by an Indian in T20Is- 13.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Sunday said he has not seen a "better T20 hundred" than Abhishek Sharma's brutal knock against England that took India to 247/9 in 20 overs. India won the match by 150 runs as England was bowled out for 97 inside 11 overs and pocketed the series 4-1.

"We are going to do this going forward, got to play fearless cricket. We want to keep backing players like Abhishek Sharma. We have to be patient with these boys. Most of these boys believe in the ideology of playing fearless cricket," Gambhir told the host broadcaster after the match.

"I haven't seen a better T20 hundred (Abhishek's ton) against bowlers who are bowling at 140-150 kph consistently," he added.

There were reports of a schism in the Indian dressing room following the team's dismal performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia. Gambhir stated that everything will fall into place if the club returns to winning ways.

"They (these players) have played a lot of cricket against each other. That's all Indian cricket is all about us. When results start going your way, everything goes well. Our players know what it means to represent 140-150 crore Indians," he added.

India and England will now play a three-match ODI series from February 6 onwards and Gambhir intimated that India will take an aggressive approach in the forthcoming ODI series, which begins in Nagpur.

"England are a very high quality side. We don't want to fear losing a game. We want to get to a total of 250-260, and at times we will get bowled out for 120, but we are on the right track (in T20Is).  We want to play as aggressively as we can in the ODIs, (we) want to entertain the crowd,” Gambhir concluded.

(PTI inputs)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 03 Feb, 2025

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