Moments after slamming the second-fastest century for India in the fifth and final T20I against England in Mumbai on Sunday, Abhishek Sharma downplayed the competition for the opening slot between him, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

It has not yet been a full year since the Punjab batter arrived at the international stage on the back of high promise in domestic cricket, including an immensely successful IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2024. His maiden T20I century was the joint-third fastest for any Indian (46 balls) in only his second match.

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On Sunday against England, the 24-year-old smashed 135 runs off just 54 balls to help India post a mammoth 247/9, for his second T20I century. He then returned with two wickets as well to round off a complete day. The left-hander’s knock was studded with 7 fours and 13 sixes. He also hit the maximum number of sixes for any Indian batter in a single T20I innings.

In between, he smacked a 28-ball century to claim the joint-fastest hundred for any Indian in the prestigious Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.

With Gill and Jaiswal being cooped up in the ODI and Test formats, Abhishek has been the preferred candidate for the opening slot. After an underwhelming run in South Africa, the dashing southpaw made the most of the opportunity by turning the tides against England.

With India having some time on their hands before appearing in the T20I once again, Abhishek made a strong case for himself to avoid jostling for a spot when the star duo return to the format in future.

“I had met Jassu [Jaiswal] and Shubman yesterday [at the BCCI awards]. There has never been a competition among us – we are playing together since Under-16. There was just one dream – to play for India. The three of us are playing now, so there is no better feeling,” Abhishek said.

The youngster also credited his seniors for backing him to take some time after he got to his fifty off mere 17 deliveries, and was on 94 off 32 balls after nine overs. He had the Indian record for the fastest T20I century – off 35 balls by Rohit Sharma – in sights but eventually managed to reach the landmark in 37 balls.

“I was in a zone where I was going to react to the ball. I didn’t even know my score. I just asked by Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) paaji‘ what do you think?’. He said ‘since a wicket has fallen you can take your time, take a couple of balls.’ That really helped me, because of him only I would say the hundred happened and my highest score happened. At that time, I didn’t realise I was going to hit the fastest hundred [second-fastest for India],” he said.

“I react to the ball based on the team situation. Luckily today, when I was in the 80s or 90s, Surya paaji came in and said you’ve played well so far, worked hard, so you can take two-three balls. When the captain is (batting) with you and tells you something, I felt I should bat carefully. When Hardik (Pandya) came in, he said, ‘since wickets are falling you have to play according to the situation and bat till the end since you are hitting the ball well’. Then Axar came in… these three are senior players and have played well for India, so no better players to listen to in that situation.”

Abhishek also highlighted the impact of former India allrounder Yuvraj Singh in his game.

“Yuvi paaji was always there for me and put all these things in my mind and believed in me. When Yuvraj Singh tells you that you are going to play for the country and win games, you also try to believe in yourself and give your best. I talk to him after every game, he is the one I listen to. He knows me better than me.”

“When your captain and coach tell you that you have to play like this and we are backing you, we’ll be there for you always, that is the biggest motivation for a young player in the team. In South Africa I remember Hardik paaji and Suryapaaji telling me, you are100% going to make some runs, just believe in yourself’. In this series Gauti [head coach Gautam Gambhir] paaji came back and I feel grateful that they believe in me, that’s not normal and is the biggest motivation for any player,” he added.

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