Jos Buttler admitted England were “really outplayed” and feared they would be the first major nation to concede a 300-plus total in T20s after being put to the sword by India’s Abhishek Sharma.
A swashbuckling 135 off 54 deliveries from Abhishek, who peeled off 13 of his side’s 19 sixes plus seven fours with his impeccable timing and crisp ball-striking, carried India to 247 for nine in Mumbai.
It was one run less than the highest T20 score England have conceded – against Australia in August 2013 – and they slumped to 97 all out to suffer a national record 150-run loss as India won the series 4-1.
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“We were really outplayed,” Buttler said. “I’ve played quite a lot of cricket and credit to Abhishek Sharma. That was one of the best T20 knocks I’ve been on the receiving end of.
“You always sit down and think what more could we have done or how we could have stopped him, but some days I think you have to give a lot of credit to the opposition. He played brilliantly well.
“With the bat, I’ve played in a few games like this and it generally goes one of two ways: you either get somewhere near or you fall in a heap and today was that day.”
India soared to 127 for one after eight overs, but they only took 120 from their last dozen as Brydon Carse, with three for 38, and Mark Wood, who took two for 32, helped to slightly subdue the hosts.
“At one point I was thinking I don’t want to be the team that concedes 300 for the first time,” Buttler said. “The guys stuck in and we had two commendable performances from Brydon Carse and Mark Wood.”
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Phil Salt had a lone hand with a 23-ball 55 but lacked support and nicked off to Shivam Dube, bizarrely passed fit to play 48 hours after failing a concussion test in India’s series-clinching win in Pune.
The controversy from Friday’s fourth T20 rumbled on at the toss here, with Buttler saying he had “four impact subs” – a nod to 90mph fast bowler Harshit Rana’s decisive hand after replacing Dube as a concussion substitute last time out.
Buttler struck a more diplomatic tone after his side’s latest defeat, where Dube was India’s second top-scorer with 30 off 13 balls and took two for 11 from two overs with his gentle medium pace.
“He’s pulled up pretty well from a nasty blow on the head, hopefully he’s OK,” Buttler said. “I’m sure he must have been happy with the risk he took or their medical staff were. Maybe a question for them.”
Phil Salt was the only resistance for England (Rafiq Maqbool/AP)
Varun Chakravarthy was named player of the series with 14 wickets as England’s familiar struggles with spin came to the fore but Buttler insisted his players will be better for the experience.
“Playing against India you know you’re going to be faced with a lot of spin, but I’m not worried,” Buttler said.
“There’s some really good players there and some guys having their first experiences in these conditions.
“Every day, you’re learning, improving, working things out as you go along and gaining more experience and trying to accelerate that process.”
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England have no time to lick their wounds despite Brendon McCullum’s first series as white-ball head coach ending with a heavy defeat as they look to the first of three ODIs on Thursday in Nagpur.
Buttler and McCullum have preached an aggressive mindset with the bat and urged the bowlers to focus on the wickets, not runs, column and they will not deviate from that approach in the 50-over format.
“We certainly won’t change the way we want to play, we need to keep backing that, be even more committed and be desperate to do well and execute that,” Buttler added.
“If we’re going to fall, I’d rather fall on the proactive side. Hopefully, over time you get more comfortable with that and play better.”