Abhishek Sharma became the fastest Indian to score a T20I hundred as the left-hander opener beat former captain Rohit Sharma for the record by five deliveries on Thursday against Afghanistan in third and final T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Having scored 89 and 32 in the first two games of the series in chase, Abhishek didn’t let the opportunity go away when India were asked to bat first.
While held the fort at the other end, went bang bang from the go as India recorded their highest powerplay score in the shortest format – 100/0 in six overs. He was particularly brutal against Fazalhaq Farooqi, clobbering the left-arm pacer for 23 runs in the third over.
Two overs later, Abhishek smoked Mohammad Nabi for two sixes and a four in the final three balls of the fifth over. The net over, Abhishek treates Rashid Khan in the same way as the Men in Blue touched the three-figure mark in just first 36 deliveries of the match.
He brought up his third T20I hundred with a six and a single off Abdullah Ahmadzai in the ninth over of the innings. However, the Indian fell to Rashid the next over, and walked back for 108 off just 34 balls, which was studded with nine fours and 11 sixes.
In the process, Abhishek reached his hundred in 30 balls, beating Rohit by five deliveries. The former Indian skipper had scored a hundred off 35 balls against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017. Overall, Abhishek also jumped to the third place in the list of fastest T20I hundreds, behind Sahil Chauhan (Estonia) and Muhammad Fahad (Turkey).
Notably, Rohit quit T20Is in 2024 after leading India to a T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados. Abhishek’s first two hundreds came against Zimbabwe (100 in 2024) and England (135 in 2025). Abhishek’s 30-ball hundred is also the fastest t20I century by a batter from a Test-playing nation. He surpassed Zimbabwe captain Sikandra Raza’s 33-ball ton against Gambia in 2024.
More to follow..
