Abhishek Sharma praised his captain and coach for allowing him to play with freedom after he smashed a brilliant 79 to help India to an emphatic victory over England in the first T20I in Kolkata.
The hosts reached their victory target of 133 with seven wickets and 43 balls to spare as Brendan McCullum’s tenure as England’s white-ball coach got off to a miserable start.
Defeat in Kolkata.
We will look to bounce back in the second T20I in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/g8q1holJo1
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 22, 2025
Having made just 132 from their 20 overs, the tourists’ bowlers were unable to make significant inroads, bar a two-wicket burst from Jofra Archer, with Abhishek blasting the game out of England’s reach.
“I wanted to express myself, special mention to captain [Suryakumar Yadav] and coach [Gautam Gambhir], the freedom they have given us as youngsters is tremendous,” said the 24-year-old left-hander.
“It was sticking a bit, double-paced, but the way our bowlers bowled was good.
“When I came for the first time in the India team, my plan was simple, play like I played in IPL. But I’ve never seen an environment like this, [where you can] express yourself, hit your shots, even from the first ball.
“I knew they’d bowl short and check my patience.”
Sanju Samson added 26 and Tilak Varma 19 and that proved enough for India due to England’s dismal efforts with the bat.
Buttler provides some resistance
Only captain Jos Buttler made a significant score with 68 off 44 balls as India’s well-balanced attack, led by Varun Chakravarthy kept England on a tight leash.
With four games still to come in the series, Buttler was not panicking and felt losing the toss and having to bat was an important factor.
He said: “There was a little in the wicket early on, we didn’t expect that, but if you came through that phase it was a good pitch and a fast-scoring ground. We’ll be better for the run out.
“Jof looked good, superstar, looked threatening, Mark Wood bowled fast, exciting. We want to be aggressive and watchable, but venue to venue got to assess conditions.”
The second T20I takes place in Chennai on Saturday.
