Mumbai: Abhishek Sharma scripted history in the fifth T20I against England with a blistering knock. The left-handed batter raced to his century in just 37 deliveries laced with five boundaries and 10 sixes scoring the second-fastest century an Indian batter in T20Is. Also, Abhishek smashed the most sixes by an Indian in a T20I innings. Earlier, Rohit Sharma, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma held the record with 10 sixes in a T20I innings. Rohit achieved the feat against Sri Lanka in 2017, Samson did it against South Africa in November last year while Tilak Verma also reached the milestone against South Africa. The left-handed batter played a whirlwind knock of 135 from 54 deliveries laced with 13 maximums.
The record to score the fastest hundred for India in T20Is belongs to Rohit Sharma who reached his hundred in just 35 deliveries against Sri Lanka in a T20I played in 2017. Earlier, Sanju Samson had scored the second-fastest T20I ton for India by reaching the landmark in 40 deliveries.
Second T20I CENTURY for Abhishek Sharma! 💯
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 2, 2025
Wankhede has been entertained and HOW! 🤩#TeamIndia inching closer to 150 🔥
Live ▶️ https://t.co/B13UlBNdFP#INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/vY4rtG0CXb
Notably, Abhishek completed his half-century in just 17 deliveries which is the fastest half-century by an Indian batter at home. Also, he scored the second-fastest fifty by an Indian batter in T20Is after Yuvraj Singh who had scored his fifty in just 12 deliveries. The left-handed batter reached his fifty with three boundaries and five sixes.
India post 247/9 in the first innings
India posted their fourth-highest T20I total surpassing the previous score of 244/4 against vs West Indies at Lauderhill.
After winning the toss, England opted to bowl first and invited the hosts to bat first. While opening the innings, Abhishek started going gung-ho right from the start while Sanju Samson departed after scoring 16 from seven deliveries. While Abhishek was stitching a phenomenal knock, batters from the other end kept playing cameos. Tilak Varma (24) and Shivam Dube (30) played handy knocks while Suryakumar Yadav managed to muster only a couple of runs during his stay at the crease.
The 24-year-old didn't stop even after scoring a century and added three more sixes to his tally helping India cross the 200-run mark with ease. Men in Blue posted 247/9 on the scoreboard with Brydon Carse taking three wickets. Mark Wood picked two wickets while Jofra Archer turned out to be expensive by conceding 55 runs from his allotted quota of four overs.
