“Don’t get adventurous now” - Abhishek Sharma reveals how teammates helped him reach 100 in IND vs ENG 2025 5th T20I

Team India batter Abhishek Sharma thanked his skipper Suryakumar Yadav and teammates Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel for helping him through his breathtaking century in the final T20I against England in Mumbai. Playing in only his 17th T20I for India, the youngster scored his second century in the format.

Abhishek reached the milestone off just 37 deliveries, making him the second fastest among Indian batters to a T20I century, behind only Rohit Sharma (35 balls). After reaching 93 off only 31 deliveries, the 24-year-old took six more balls to score the next seven runs.

Talking about his accomplishment after the game, Abhishek revealed Surya and Hardik's roles in helping him reach the three-figure score.

"I would tell you the truth. When Surya paaji (Suryakumar Yadav) got out, he told me to get the hundred first. He said that these moments do not come often. At that time, Adil Rashid and the pacers were bowling, who I had already scored off. But he told me strictly that these moments will not come often and asked me to take some time to reach the century. "After that, Hardik (Pandya) paaji came and said the same thing. He said that 'you have hit a lot of shots, don't get adventurous now," he said [via India Today].

Abhishek added:

"Then Axar (Patel) paaji came and said the same thing. The three seniors took me aside and said this and that took me out of the zone, where I just wanted to react to the ball and play my shots. But those three controlled me and it happened."

While Surya got out a ball after Abhishek reached his century, Hardik and Axar played their part in helping the youngster kick on further. Abhishek was eventually dismissed for 135 off 54 deliveries - the highest score by an Indian batter in T20Is.

"I haven't seen a better T20 hundred" - Gautam Gambhir

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir called Abhishek Sharma's century in the fifth T20I against England the best he had seen in the format.

The southpaw smashed a well-oiled English bowling attack for 7 boundaries and an incredible 13 maximums to help India reach a massive 247/9 in 20 overs.

Talking to the broadcasters post-game, Gambhir said about Abhishek's knock [quoted by NDTV]:

"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 to with these boys. Most of these boys believe in the ideology of playing fearless cricket. I haven't seen a better T20 hundred (Abhishek's ton) against bowlers who are bowling at 140-150 kph consistently."

Buoyed by Abhishek's breathtaking knock, India won the match by 150 runs to complete a 4-1 series victory over England.