England’s head coach Brendon McCullum has likened Abhishek Sharma to T20 legends like Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers after India registered a thumping 150-run win in the fifth and final T20I against England at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.

Sharma scored a whirlwind knock of 135 runs off just 54 balls as he smashed 13 maximums and seven boundaries in his innings. Thus, the left-hander played a key role in helping India post a huge total of 247 runs on the board. 

The southpaw scored his runs at a blistering strike rate of 250 as he batted at the top of his game to rip apart England’s bowling line-up. McCullum admitted that Sharma’s knock is one of the best he has witnessed in T20 cricket.

Brendon McCullum told reporters, “We’ve seen so many players over the years in this format that have been able to do it – Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, AB de Villiers – and maybe Abishek Sharma is putting his hand up as one of those players. First and foremost, the innings we saw from Abhishek is as good an innings as we’ve ever witnessed in T20 cricket.”

“He’s not just doing it against any attack, he’s doing it against four guys who bowl 90mph and an absolute gun leg-spinner. I’m very realistic that when I see someone come out of the telephone box and play an innings like that, sometimes you throw all the different plans you want at it but if he’s hitting it like that, you really can’t stop it.”

On the other hand, England captain Michael Vaughan also showered praise on Abhishek Sharma for his unbelievable knock. Vaughan said he doesn’t think that one can play any better than how Sharma batted on Sunday.

Vaughan said on Cricbuzz, “Wonderful player. I don’t think you can play any better than that. If anyone’s played a better T20 innings than that, I’ve not seen it. That was as pure and as stylish as you could possibly ever hope for.”

The first ODI between India and England will be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur on Thursday.