India vs England, 5th T20I at Mumbai, IND vs ENG, Feb 02 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

10.26pm What a series for India, winning 4-1 against a really, really good T20 side, and completing the job in utterly dominant style today. India won the T20 World Cup last year, but if anything, they've only seemed to get better in this format since: they've won 18 of their 21 matches since that final. They have serious depth in every department, and so much young talent bubbling through.

But now the focus will shift to ODIs, with three games against England to be followed by the Champions Trophy. We hope you've enjoyed our coverage of these T20Is, and we hope you'll join us for the 50-overs feast that's about to follow. Until then, it's goodbye from me, Vish and Ranjith.

Suryakumar Yadav: "It's always about being a little instinctive on the ground, whoever you feel might do something, throw them the ball. This is what we've sat down and spoken about, what brand of cricket we want to play, and we want to keep sticking to it. It's a high-risk, high-reward game, but at the end of the day we're getting the results. [On Abhishek:] I'm very happy for his family as well, they must have enjoyed his innings. It was great. [On Varun:] He's been relentlessly working hard with our fielding coach Dilip sir, whenever he gets time in our practice sessions. Today he put his hand up and said he wants to field in the outfield, and you saw the results. He's a process-oriented man [with the ball], always wants to work on something new."

Varun Chakravarthy is the Player of the Series. "I'm happy that the fielding also drew some applause, and the team has been emphasising on improving the fielding standards, and I've been working hard with the fielding coach Mr. Dilip. This is the best I've bowled, but lot of scope to improve, there were a few [bad] balls, I should not have bowled them. It was just the matter of bowling the right ball at the right time, that's what I was working on. This is very special, I would like to dedicate it to my son and my wife and my parents. I'd like to thank Surya and GG for backing me as well."

Abhishek Sharma is the Player of the Match. "It's a special one, coming for the country, always a great feeling. 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. 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."

Jos Buttler: "We're disappointed to lose the series, but we've done some things well and some things we want to improve on. We want to keep committing to this style of cricket and execute better. India are a fantastic side, especially at home, and we're better for the experience, the experience of great crowds like this at the Wankhede. Positives: Some of the guys' bowling performances - even today, Brydon Carse and Mark Wood were outstanding. I've seen a lot of cricket, and I thought Abhishek's innings today was one of the best."

9.55pm An absolute hammering, but that can happen when you're chasing a mammoth total. You either get close, or you get bowled out early. India have won by 150 runs, their second-biggest victory in T20Is by a runs margin. Incredible innings from Abhishek Sharma, and he picks up two wickets to go with it. Three for Shami as well, a nice box checked in his comeback journey, two to Shivam Dube to show how much of a frontline seamer he is, and the spinners did their thing as usual.

Shivam Dube: It feels great when you contribute asn an allrounder, which I have been doing for a long time. I was really excited to bowl. I could not do that in the last match, but I knew I would be bowling today. [Abhishek] told me the wicket was good, play your shots. I didn't want to bring the run rate down, so I just played my shots. Morne Morkel has helped me with my angles. i got the opportunity today [with the ball] and I delivered well."

Kiran: "Did we loose your commentary in the middle?" -- Yup, we've been having back-end issues right through this innings. It'll all be sorted soon.

Abhijeet : "Dube picked 2 wickets at a lesser economy and better strike rate than Harshit now speak Jos Butler :) !"

vipra: "Abhishek bettered his highest batting score and best bowling record in the same match!"

Bruce Wayne: "England: Philosophies, vibes, buzzwords. Australia: Trophies, dynasties" -- They're a really good team, and they lost to another really good team. And they're in a bit of a transition in white-ball cricket. Bit harsh to compare them to the collective might of cricket's greatest team historically.

Srini: "Tough choice to pick PoTM."

Anjan: "Is this the largest margin of defeat for England?" -- Yes, it is.

Sonal: "Abhishek won by 38 Runs."

Mark Wood is in at No. 11.

Shami returns.

Santhosh: "England lost wickets for 2.1, 4.1, 6.1, 7.1, 8.1, 9.1 balls, beware of 1st ball of the overs."

Rhys: "I've said it week in, week out for about three years now - England are at least one batter light and probably two. The middle order is a mess and they have a collection of pinch hitters. Bring in Root yesterday."

A wide slip in place.

Thanks, Vish. Can Dube match his like-for-like sub with a three-for, or perhaps even outdo him? Adil Rashid and all his first-class hundreds are in at No. 10.

That's drinks. Here comes Karthik to see out what's left of the innings...

Dube to continue

Jofra Archer is the new batter, Abhishek to come around the wicket

Abhishek Sharma, fresh from notching India's second-fastest T20i century, comes in to bowl his left-arm spin