India decimated England in the fifth T20I at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Monday with a 150-run victory to seal the final scoreline of the series at 4-1, as youngsters like Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy continued to rule the roost, bagging the ‘Player of the Match’ and the ‘Player of the Series’ award respectively.
Opening batter Abhishek smashed the ball all around the park in his blistering 135 off 54 balls in the last T20I to take his series tally of runs to 279 at an average of 55.80 and strike rate of 219.69, including a staggering 22 sixes and 24 fours. Tilak Varma was India’s next best batter with 133 runs.
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Among the wicket-takers, mystery spinner Chakravarthy finished the series at top with 14 wickets at an average of 9.86.
Sharing his views on the series and the performances of the two teams on his YouTube channel, former Pakistan batter Basit Ali said, “If you analyse the series, it hasn’t panned out on expected lines because India sidelined England completely.
“The juniors, be it Tilak Varma, Abhishek, Varun, (Ravi) Bishnoi, (Shivam) Dube, they have put the pressure on seniors. The coming (ODI) series is going to be very big for Rohit and Virat.”
While these young guns are currently being considered only for T20Is and are not part of the Champions Trophy squad, Basit believes they have instilled faith in the BCCI and the fans that they are ready to take over the mantle in 50-overs cricket as well.
“The Indian public, selectors and coaches, especially Gautam (Gambhir), have seen that the new players have a different style of playing compared to the seniors. Agree that 50-overs cricket is a little different, you have to get set and all, but these kids have shown that now there’s not much difference. So this series remains critically important for Rohit and Virat,” Basit analysed.
“Congratulations to India, because of these kids coming up, the team’s future is safe.”
Virat and Rohit have already quit T20 internationals and will hope to revive their form in the twilight of their career to bow out on a high, whenever they decide to do so.
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