India vs England 5th T20I - “He should be happy today”: Abhishek Sharma on Yuvraj Singh

Abhishek Sharma’s 135 off just 54 deliveries in the fifth T20I helped India win the fifth T20I by a humungous margin of 150 runs and seal the series 4-1. Sharma scored his century with the help of 13 sixes and batted long till the end of the 18th over — something which Yuvraj Singh, his mentor, wants him to do. 

“Probably he [mentor Yuvraj Singh] should be happy today. He's always wanted me to bat into the 15th, 20th over, and I've tried to implement that,” Sharma said about Yuvraj after his innings. 

The former Indian left hander who still has the fastest T20I half century to his name, took to X (formerly Twitter) and posted, “Well played Abhishek! That's where I want to see you! Proud of you.”

Sharma also thanked skipper Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir for giving him the confidence to play his natural game. 

"It's a special one, coming for the country, always a great feeling,” the left-hander said after his innings. 

“When I see it's my day, I always try to go from the first ball. And the way the coach and the captain have treated me from the first day, they’ve always wanted this intent, they've always backed me. When the opponents are bowling 140, 150-plus, you have to be ready a little earlier. Just react to the ball and play my shots. 

“When you're hitting a world-class bowler over the covers [off Archer], it's aways great, but I really liked the shots against Adil Rashid as well.”

While Sharma was the Player of the Match for his century, Varun Chakravarthy became the Player of the Series for his sensational bowling in the series.