India, Sept. 18 -- There was a touch of the anti-climactic to the manner in which Abhishek Sharma brought up his third Twenty20 International hundred. Twenty-nine previous deliveries had produced nine fours and 10 sixes - a whopping 96 of his 99 runs. The century came through a stately single to long-off, a rare instance of the ball not keeping its tryst with the boundary buntings or with the spectators thickly populating the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

As if he himself could not believe the mundane way through which he brought up a significant milestone, the 26-year-old took his time to celebrate. His routine on reaching his ton was more muted than when he brought up his first fifty, off 16 deliveries; after a while, he took off ...