Abhishek Sharma-inspired India notched their biggest T20I win against England with a colossal 150-run win in the final match of the series at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on February 2. It was apparently fourth series win for India in head coach Gautam Gambhir era after triumph against Sri Lanka, South Africa, Bangladesh.
Gautam Gambhir warns England ahead of ODI series
Gambhir must be a proud coach after India's dominance throughout the T20I series against England, why not after all India signed off the five-match outing 4-1.
After the match Gambhir fired a stern warning to the English side and made it clear that India will continue to play as aggressively as they can in the ODI series as well which is scheduled to start from February 6. India and England are scheduled to play a three-match ODI series in a dress rehearsal for the Champions Trophy 2025, which will get underway from February 19.
"We want to play as aggressively as we can in the ODIs, want to entertain the crowd," Gambhir said following India's emphatic 150-run win over England in Mumbai.
We don't want to fear losing a game: Gautam Gambhir
The two-time World Cup-winner also made Team India's intentions clear that they don't fear losing a game and will continue to play fearless cricket.
"England are a very high quality side. We don't want to fear losing a game. We want to get to a total of 250-260, and at times we will get bowled out for 120, but we are on the right track. 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, it's important to keep backing them. 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. They (these players) have played a lot of cricket against each other. That's all Indian cricket is all about us. When results start going your way, everything goes well. Our players know what it means to represent 140-150 crore Indians. For me having Bishnoi and Varun bowling in tandem was really important. We want to try as hard as possible with the bat. It's about the top seven going hard. He (Dube) probably bowled four overs today (laughs.) There is no fixed batting order apart from the openers and that's what T20 cricket is all about," Gambhir concluded.
Abhishek Sharma's onslaught in India's big win over England in 5th T20I
Talking about the match, Abhishek Sharma delivered a stunning all-round performance in the fifth T20I against England on Sunday. He smashed a robust 37-ball century riding on 13 sixes and 7 fours, setting a new record for the highest individual T20I score by an Indian batsman with 135 runs off just 54 balls. His explosive innings propelled India to a massive total of 247/9 in 20 overs after they were put in to bat. Sharma's contributions weren't limited to batting; he also took two wickets in his only over, further compounding England's struggles. England's batting lineup crumbled under the pressure, eventually being dismissed for a mere 97 runs in just 10.3 overs. This resulted in a resounding 150-run victory for India, securing their 4-1 series win.
While Varun Chakravarthy (2-25) and Shivam Dube (2-11) also chipped in with crucial wickets, it was Mohammed Shami who stood out as India's most effective bowler, taking 3 wickets for 25 runs. England's batting collapse meant they were all out with a staggering 57 balls remaining in their innings.