The much-awaited T20I series between the top two nations of the shortest format received a fitting end as both teams played their hearts out. There was very little to separate the two teams after the first four matches as the series was level at 2-2. The stage was set for the teams to lock horns in the series decider and England after winning the toss once again elected to bowl first.
Though this time around it was their most experienced players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who opened the innings for Team India and they did all justice to their experience by stitching together 94 runs of the first 9 overs. With Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya continuing the momentum, India managed to notch up their highest score against England in T20I and the visitors in reply could manage only 188 handling India their third consecutive series victory against them.
231
The Indian skipper, as we know was a record-breaking spree in this series and the ‘Run-machine’ went on break yet another record by becoming the highest run-getter in a bilateral T20I series with 231 runs from the 5 matches beating his fellow teammate KL Rahul’s record of 224 runs.
12,000
Indian maestro Virat Kohli became only the 3rd captain to score 12,000 International runs as the skipper. He also took Aaron Finch who has scored 1462, to become the highest-scoring skipper in International T20.
24
The World No.1 ranked Dawid Malan once again showcased his amazing stroke-play as he finally got in the groove after some mediocre performances in the first four matches. The Left-hander en route to his classy knock of 68 runs of 46 balls went to become the fastest batsmen to 1000 runs in T20Is in just his 24th innings. The next best is that of Babar Azam and Virat Kohli, who took 26 and 27 innings respectively.
3159
Virat Kohli became the first player to score 3000 plus runs in T20I. During 2nd T20, after going 0-1 down in the series, the Indian skipper played a masterclass of an innings entering the 3K run club hitting the last ball of the match for a six.
28
“Consistency is boring and I will always strive towards it’ were the words of Indian skipper Virat Kohli. So far he has stuck by his words and his records speak for themself, Hitting 28 half-centuries in just 90 matches, the skipper now holds the record for the most fifties in the shortest format.
2864
Rohit Sharma overtook Martin Guptil’s 2869 runs to become the second leading run-scorer in the shortest format. The hitman produced a masterclass to provide India with a fast start propelling them to a winning score.
133
The Indian batsman has never shirked from his attacking nature, continuing that in the 5th T20 against England. Rohit Sharma now has 133 sixes in T20I only behind Martin Guptill’s 139. With more T20 series lined up, many wouldn't bet against him surpassing the Kiwi batsman.
5
Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav both managed to score the fifties in their very first innings for the country. They happened to be the 4th and 5th players to score a fifty on debut. The other three being Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Uthappa, and Rohit Sharma.
24
India, being on the receiving end against England in the third T20I, struggled on the pitch as they registered their third-lowest score in the power plays in T20I of 24 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. Eventually, England won the match to go 2-1 up in the series.
7
Rohit Sharma entered the rare club of batsmen who hit the first ball of the match for a six in a T20I. The other batsmen who have achieved this feat included Kamran Akmal, Karin Sadiq, Dwayne Smith (Twice), Martin Guptil, Colin Munro, and Hazratullah Zazai.
3
Suryakumar Yadav had a batting debut, coming in at No.3 hitting the first ball he faced for a six. There are only two other batsmen who have achieved this feat, Sohail Tanvir against India in 2007 and Mangaliso Mosehle against Sri Lanka back in 2017.
224
India produced a wonderful batting display in the final match which was the series decider. Scoring 224 in the first innings, India posted their highest score against England in T20Is beating their previous score of 218 for 4 in the 2007 T20 World Cup.
102*
The English skipper- Eoin Morgan in the third match of the series marked his 100th game for England. The 34-year old became only the 4th player in the history of the T20Is to play more than 100 matches and given the time is on his side he is likely to increase the tally in the upcoming years.
8
Ever since their 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies back in 2019, the Men in Blue have been invincible in the shortest format. They now have been undefeated in their last 8 bilateral series and their worst outcome being the 1-1 drawn series against the proteas.
With India being in an unassailable form in the shortest format, the substantial question would be if Virat Kohli and Co. continue their form into the much-awaited ICC T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to commence on the 14th of October this year. Which among these spellbinding stats and records did you find to be mind-boggling?
