“When I see it’s my day, I always try to go from the first ball.”

It was Abhishek Sharma’s day alright and, as England’s beleaguered bowling attack will attest, he was true to his word.

The 24-year-old battered England’s bowlers from pillar to post with a spectacular 135 off 54 deliveries before the tourists capitulated to a 150-run defeat in the fifth and final T20 in Mumbai.

Abhishek reached his century in 37 balls, the second-fastest T20 century for India after Rohit Sharma (35 balls vs Sri Lanka) in 2017.

By the time his scintillating innings concluded, Abhishek had 13 of India’s 19 sixes.

‘An innings as good as you’ll see’

“I’ve played quite a lot of cricket and credit to Abhishek Sharma,” England captain Jos Buttler said. “That was one of the best T20 knocks I’ve been on the receiving end of.

“You always sit down and think what more could we have done or how we could have stopped him, but some days I think you have to give a lot of credit to the opposition. He played brilliantly well.”

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen added: “One of the great T20 innings – I struggle to remember one better.

“It was against a good bowling attack on a pitch that helps the faster bowlers and gives the spinners some bounce. It was an innings as good as you’ll ever see.”

Abhishek Sharma’s hundred in stats

• Runs: 135
• Balls: 54
• Sixes: 13
• Fours: 7
• Strike-rate: 250
• Balls to reach three figures: 37

Buttler: England were outplayed

The teams arrived in Mumbai with India having already wrapped up the series with Friday’s controversial victory in Pune.

But there was to be no respite for England as they slumped to their worst defeat in T20 history – and the second biggest in a game between two Test nations.

Had it not been for Phil Salt’s 55 off 23 balls, it may well have eclipsed New Zealand’s 168-run defeat to India in Ahmedabad in 2023.

“We were really outplayed,” Buttler conceded.

“With the bat, I’ve played in a few games like this and it generally goes one of two ways: you either get somewhere near or you fall in a heap and today was that day.

“We are disappointed to lose the series. We have done some things well and there are some things we want to improve on. We need to stick to the style of play and execute better.”

Buttler feared 300-run rout

England were put to the sword in Mumbai, conceding just a run less than their highest T20 score against Australia in August 2013.

At one stage, Buttler feared they would be the first major nation to concede a 300-plus total in T20s.

“At one point I was thinking I don’t want to be the team that concedes 300 for the first time,” Buttler said. “The guys stuck in and we had two commendable performances from Brydon Carse and Mark Wood.”

While Carse claimed three for 38 and Wood two for 32, the rest of the attack had an economy rate well into double figures.

“I think England were surprised by the onslaught and just couldn’t react with the ball,” former England captain Sir Alastair Cook added.

“I’m not sure their philosophy of pace on the ball on these wickets works. You need a variety.

“Players aren’t scared of express pace anymore, especially on slow wickets.”

England in India – results and fixtures

All times UK and Ireland

• First ODI: Thursday February 6 (8am) – Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
• Second ODI: Sunday February 9 (8am) – Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
• Third ODI: Wednesday February 12 (8am) – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

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