"If anyone's played a better T20 innings, I've not seen it" - Former England captain on Abhishek Sharma's ton in IND vs ENG 2025 5th T20I

Former England captain Michael Vaughan described Abhishek Sharma's hundred in the fifth T20I between India and England in Mumbai as the best T20 innings he has seen. Vaughan termed Abhishek as a wonderful player, who has excellent game awareness apart from special big-hitting skills.

The Men in Blue hammered England by 150 runs in the fifth and final T20I at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, February 2. Sent into bat by the visitors, India put up 247-9 on the board as Abhishek clobbered 135 in only 54 balls, slamming seven fours and 13 sixes. In the chase, England folded up for a mere 97 in 10.3 overs as India clinched the series 4-1.

In a post-match interaction on Cricbuzz, former England skipper Vaughan made a massive statement on Abhishek's stunning hundred. He commented:

"Wonderful player. I don't think you can play any better than that. If anyone's played a better T20 innings than that, I've not seen it. That was as pure and as stylish as you could possibly ever hope for."

The 50-year-old also hailed Abhishek as someone who seems to be one step ahead of the bowler and adapts his game as per the challenge on hand.

"He's a modern-day flourishing player whose got so much style, he's got the power, he's got the skill sets. He has the ability to hit spin and seam. I think his awareness of the game is excellent. I think he reads the play beautifully," Vaughan added.

"If you look at a few of his shots against Jofra Archer, he plays the cut shot for six and then he realizes Jofra's going to pitch it up a little bit, so he dances down out of his crease and whacks him over extra cover. I think that's a real all-round player that can obviously play the strokes, but also read what the bowler's going to try and bowl to him and be one step ahead of that delivery," the former England captain concluded.

After smashing a superb ton, Abhishek also starred with the ball. He bowled one over and claimed two wickets with his left-arm spin, dismissing Brydon Carse for three and Jamie Overton for one.

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Abhishek Sharma's record-breaking T20I ton

The left-handed batter from Punjab broke several records during this 54-ball 135 in Mumbai. His knock is now the highest individual score by an Indian in T20Is, surpassing 126* by Shubman Gill against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in 2023. The 24-year-old struck 13 sixes, the most by an Indian batter in a T20I inning - Rohit Sharma, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma had hit 10 each.

His 37-ball ton is the third fastest by a batter in T20Is between two Full Member nations - Rohit Sharma and David Miller (35 balls) are the joint-record holders. The left-hander's 17-ball 50 is the second quickest for India after mentor Yuvraj Singh's 12-ball 50 against England in Durban in 2007.