England Crumble in Series Opener Behind Abhishek Sharma's Brutal 135

MUMBAI, INDIA - England suffered a crushing defeat by record margin against India in their opening match of a five-match Twenty20 series, losing all eight wickets for 247 runs at the Wankhede Stadium.

Brendon McCullum's first Test with his new side ended in disaster, with England's bowlers again under pressure after their collapse was sparked by India opener Abhishek Sharma's blistering knock of 135 from 54 balls. The left-hander scored 13 sixes against the English bowlers, a record for an Indian batter in T20 cricket.

The series, which marks McCullum's first stint as England's white-ball coach, was England's first with his guidance and comes just ahead of their Champions Trophy campaign. India superstar Rohit Sharma will return from injury to spearhead the Indian team, as they aim to fine-tune for the tournament next month.

England's batting line up looked weaker than anticipated after this loss, despite two star performers - Jonny Bairstow and Matthew Potts - getting out on the first over of play. The loss could be another indication that England is looking towards a change in their captaincy structure with skipper Jos Buttler being heavily reliant on Jos Buttler.

Their batting line-up struggled to cope with India's spin attack, losing 29 wickets across all formats to Indian tweakers. England has failed to solve spin conundrum dogged under former white-ball captain Matthew Mott before him, but the same players face similar fate with their lack of depth in this format.