Abhishek Sharma records India's second-fastest T20I century; Wankhede carnage bamboozles England

Abhishek Sharma displayed brute force as he smashed England bowlers all round the park in the fifth and final T20I at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. The left-handed batter made full use of the powerplay overs to give India a solid start after being asked to bat by England captain Jos Buttler. Abhishek Sharma brought up his century off just 37 balls to leave the visitors shell-shocked.

As a result of this knock, Abhishek Sharma recorded the second-fastest century for India in T20Is. The record belongs to Rohit Sharma, who scored a ton off 35 balls against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017.

Abhishek Sharma also recorded the highest T20I score for any India batter, surpassing Shubman Gill's 126-run knock against New Zealand in 2023. Abhishek eventually returned to the hut after scoring 135 runs off 54 balls. He was dismissed by Adil Rashid.

Owing to Abhishek's knock, the hosts posted 247/9 in the allotted 20 overs.

Earlier, the second-fastest T20I century belonged to Sanju Samson, who had scored 100 runs off 40 balls against Bangladesh at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Earlier, Abhishek Sharma also smashed the second-fastest fifty in T20Is for any Indian player. He surpassed KL Rahul, who had scored 50 runs off 18 balls against Scotland in Dubai.

The fastest T20I fifty for an Indian player belongs to Yuvraj Singh, as he scored 50 runs off just 12 balls in the inaugural T20 World Cup against England. The record belongs to Nepal's Dipendra Singh Airee, who scored 50 off 9 balls.

Sanju Samson departed for 16 runs in the second over of the match. However, Abhishek Sharma did not relent as he took a special liking to the pace of Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton.

In the entire series, Abhishek Sharma has faced 32 balls against Jofra Archer, scoring 60 runs at a strike rate of 187.40.

Abhishek Sharma charged down the track to the extreme pace of Archer and Mark Wood, which was the biggest highlight of his knock.

Sanju Samson falls cheaply

Sanju Samson smashed the first ball of the contest for a six as he pulled a Jofra Archer bouncer for a maximum. However, his innings ended in the same fashion as the previous matches. He was caught in the deep off the bowling of Mark Wood.

He walked back to the hut after scoring 16 runs. Sanju Samson managed just 35 runs off 29 short balls bowled to him in the entire series. All his five dismissals came in an identical manner.

Earlier, England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bowl first. England made one change as the visitors brought Mark Wood in place of Saqib Mahood.

On the other hand, India brought Mohammed Shami in place of Arshdeep Singh.

India have already wrapped up the series and the fifth T20I in Mumbai is a dead rubber.