India opener Abhishek Sharma said he has team management’s permission to bat with unbridled aggression but also knows he must be consistent to retain his place in the Twenty20 squad.

The Punjab batter belted eight sixes and five fours in a dazzling display of power-hitting to secure India’s seven-wicket victory in the opening T20 International against England in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Abhishek smashed a 46-ball hundred against Zimbabwe in his second T20 International in July last year in what was his only 20-plus score in his first nine innings in the format.

However, the 24-year-old will breathe easier after scores of 50, 36 and 79 in his last three knocks.

“In India, there will always be a lot of competition in our senior team,” the left-hander told reporters as he thanked captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir for backing the youngsters in the side.

“As a batsman, it can play on your mind if you don’t score runs in three, four, five innings …

“When we did not do well, even then they tell us ‘we know you’re going to win the game for us, just go and express yourself’.

“When the captain or the coach says this, you get confidence and back yourself.”

Mentored by former greats

The opener’s preparations include net sessions against bowlers with actions similar to those of the bowlers he would be facing in the match.

Mentored by former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, coached by West Indies great Brian Lara at Sunrisers Hyderabad, and now playing under Gambhir, Abhishek considers himself lucky to be guided by the left-handed stalwarts.

“They just want me to showcase my talent in the way I play and to back myself,” he added.

India and England meet in the second T20 International of the five-match series in Chennai on Saturday.

Match-winning blitz

Earlier on Wednesday night, England skipper Jos Buttler struck 68 off 44 balls but England were all out for 132 in exactly 20 overs, which was never going to test the explosive batting lineup of T20 world champions India.

Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh gave India a strong start removing both England openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett inside three overs after the home side elected to field.

Buttler counter-attacked, hitting Hardik Pandya for four fours in an over, throwing him out of the attack after the seamer’s two expensive overs.

Varun Chakravarthy (3-23) was pressed into service instead and the lanky spinner dismissed Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone in the same over as England limped to 74-4 at the halfway stage of their innings.

Buttler raced to a 34-ball fifty before Chakravarthy dismissed him caught in the deep by a diving Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel and seamer Pandya claimed two wickets apiece.

India looked in a hurry when they began their chase.

Sanju Samson milked 22 runs including four fours and a six off Gus Atkinson’s first over, prompting Buttler to withdraw the bowler.

Jofra Archer dismissed Samson for 26 runs and India captain Suryakumar Yadav in the same over but boundaries kept flowing.

Abhishek hit Mark Wood for back-to-back sixes and meted out the same treatment to England spinner Adil Rashid en route to a 20-ball fifty.

Rashid spilled a return catch when Abhishek was on 29 and it proved costly as the opener stepped on the gas immediately after the reprieve.

Rashid eventually dismissed the opener in the 12th over but India comfortably prevailed in a match that marked the beginning of England’s white-ball era under coach Brendon McCullum.