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  • He Did It Against Four Guys Who England Coach Hails Abhishek Sharmas Heroics

'He Did It Against Four Guys Who...': England Coach Hails Abhishek Sharma's Heroics

Aakash Saini∙ Updated: Feb 4 2025, 8:06 PM

Abhishek Sharma and Brendon McCullum [Source: @BCCI, @ICC/x]Abhishek Sharma and Brendon McCullum [Source: @BCCI, @ICC/x]

Abhishek Sharma flayed a strong English attack at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium in the fifth T20I match last week. Opening the innings with Sanju Samson, young Abhishek ran riot with 135 runs from just 54 balls with seven boundaries and 13 huge sixes.

Apart from getting rewarded with a ‘Player of the Match’ award after India’s huge 150-run win, the 24-year-old has now earned a significant praise from England’s head coach and former New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum.

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McCullum hails Abhishek Sharma for record knock

Brendon McCullum hailed Abhishek Sharma’s 54-ball 135-run blitz against England. The former New Zealand captain signified the innings by citing England’s strong four-pronged pace attack, which included the likes of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Jamie Overton and Brydon Carse.

Moreover, McCullum also praised Sharma for overcoming ‘gun leg-spinner’ Adil Rashid with utmost ease. He said:

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“First and foremost, the innings we saw from Abhishek is as good an innings as we've ever witnessed in T20 cricket. He's not just doing it against any attack, he's doing it against four guys who bowl 90mph and an absolute gun leg-spinner.”

Moreover, Brendon McCullum even compared Abhishek Sharma to the likes of Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch and former South African captain AB de Villiers. He added:

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“We've seen so many players over the years in this format that have been able to do it - Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, AB de Villiers - and maybe Abishek Sharma is putting his hand up as one of those players.”

Abhishek Sharma plundered 135 runs from just 54 balls to record India’s highest individual score in T20I cricket, going past the likes of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Moreover, his 13 sixes of the evening also marked the highest number of maximums struck by any Indian batter in a single T20I innings.