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India continued their dominant streak in T20Is under Suryakumar Yadav's captaincy with another commanding series victory. The Men in Blue convincingly clinched the series 4-1 with an emphatic 150-run win over England in the fifth and final T20I at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on February 2.
Yadav's leadership has been exceptional since he took over the reins. Under his guidance, India remains unbeaten in T20I series since their title triumph in T20 World Cup 2024 title triumph.
The final match at Wankhede Stadium saw another dominant show by Suryakumar Yadav's brigade. India posted a formidable total of 247 runs riding on a superlative century by Abhishek Sharma. The Indian bowlers then dismantled the English batting lineup, restricting them to a mere 97 runs sealing a comprehensive series win.
Suryakumar Yadav hands the Impact fielder of the series medal to Dhruv Jurel
Following their resounding series win, the Indian team celebrated their success and a heartwarming moment unfolded behind the scenes. In a video shared by the BCCI, India's fielding coach, T. Dilip, introduced the 'Impact Fielder of the Series' medal. As the team assembled, the medal was to be presented by India's T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav. However, the presentation took an unexpected turn. Suryakumar initially approached Varun Chakravarthy, creating the impression that he would receive the award. Instead, he surprised everyone by turning and presenting the medal to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel. Jurel's reaction was one of stunned disbelief, clearly overwhelmed by the unexpected honor.
Dhruv Jurel could only play two matches and scored a total of six runs. However, despite his modest batting performance, his fielding prowess clearly made a noticeable impression on both his captain and coach, earning him the coveted medal.
Watch the Indian BTS video here:
Meanwhile, India's fielding coach T Dilip lauded India players for the impressive fielding throughout the five-match series.
"Phenomenal stuff boys. When it comes to fielding, I think we, as a team, always try to be aggressive. And even in this series, we showed that fielding is not just about skill, it's an attitude thing. But when you are on the ground, we are not sure about how many balls come your way. We cannot control that. But we can definitely control our intent, our awareness and our readiness and showed up in that series. We were thrown different challenges throughout the series, whether it is due, whether it is bigger outfields, whether it is faster outfields, lights," T Dilip said.
"I think whatever was thrown at us, we were absolutely top-notch. Very well done. Special mention to Varun, your hard work in the practice sessions really replicated in which you go. Now, this is a series medal, which we look at as consistency throughout the tournament," he added.
How the match unfolded?
Put in to bat first, India launched their innings with explosive intent. Sanju Samson set the tone early, striking Jofra Archer for a six off the very first ball. While Samson's innings was short-lived, ending at 16 runs, Abhishek Sharma took center stage and wreaked havoc on the England bowlers. Sharma cracking stunning T20I century, arguably one of the finest innings of his career.
He smashed the second-fastest half-century by an Indian in T20Is, reaching the milestone in just 17 balls, and his century, achieved in 37 balls, was also the second-fastest by an Indian batter. His blistering knock of 135 runs from 54 balls became the highest individual T20I score by an Indian player. India ended up posting a colossal total of 247/9. In reply, England were folded for just 97 runs in just 10.3 overs, struggling to cope with the pressure of the mammoth target. Only Phil Salt offered some resistance with a rapid 55 runs.
