NEW DELHI, Sept 17: Indian T20I opening batsman Abhishek Sharma created a new Indian record smashing a 30-ball century in the third T20I against Afghanistan with nine fours and 10 sixes at the Aun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.
It was also the fastest in the world among players from Test-playing nations. He was ruthless and yet pleasing to the eye, and once again showed why he is rated so highly. Overall, he is now the third-fastest centurion in T20Is.
He broke the Indian record, held by Rohit Sharma (35 balls vs Sri Lanka, Indore, 2017). Sharma brought up his hundred with a single in the ninth over of the Indian innings. The innings was Abhishek’s third century in the shortest format to go with 12 half-centuries.
He broke two world records – fastest T20I ton by a full-member batter and the highest individual scorer (79) in men’s T20I Powerplay.
Fastest T20I hundreds (Full-Member teams)
30 – Abhishek Sharma (India) vs Afghanistan, Delhi, 2026
33 – Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) vs Gambia, Nairobi (Ruaraka), 2024
33 – Finn Allen (South Africa) vs New Zealand, Kolkata, 2026
35 – David Miller (South Africa) vs Bangladesh, Potchefstroom, 2017
35 – Rohit Sharma (India) vs Sri Lanka, Indore, 2017
Fastest T20I hundreds
27 – Sahil Chauhan (Estonia) vs Cyprus, Episkopi, 2024
29 – Muhammad Fahad (Turkey) vs Bulgaria, Sofia, 2025
30 – Abhishek Sharma (India) vs Afghanistan, Delhi, 2026
33 – Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (Namibia) vs Nepal, Kirtipur, 2024
33 – Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) vs Gambia, Nairobi (Ruaraka), 2024
33 – Finn Allen (South Africa) vs New Zealand, Kolkata, 2026
Highest individual scores in Overs 1-6 in Men’s T20Is
76* (22) – Abhishek Sharma (IND) vs AFG, Delhi, 2026
74* (25) – Kuldeep Gholiya (Portugal) vs Malta, Gibraltar, 2023
73* (22) – Travis Head (AUS) vs SCOT, Edinburgh, 2024
68* (21) – Wintley Burton (SER) vs BUL, Sofia, 2022
68* (28) – George Munsey (SCOT) vs Austria, Edinburgh, 2023
Scoring at a whopping strike-rate of 317.64, Abhishek eventually fell for 108 off 34 balls with a total of 11 sixes and nine fours. Abhishek went firing on all cylinders after a rather slow start which saw the left-handed batter hitting his first four on the fourth ball of the opening over.
He found his rhythm in the second over with two sixes and a four against Azmatullah Omarzai, and went ballistic against Fazalhaq Farooqi, hammering two sixes and as many fours off the first four deliveries in the third over. Bringing up his fifty in the fifth over, off only the 16th ball he faced, Abhishek had reached 76 off 22 balls to take India past the 100-mark at the end of power play.
Abhishek’s blitz came to an end on the penultimate delivery of the 10th over when he edged one behind off Rashid Khan. The 26-year-old scored his maiden T20I ton against Zimbabwe in his debut series in 2024, but his fastest in terms of balls faced before Thursday had come against England at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
While scoring a 54-ball 135 against England, Abhishek completed his century off 37 balls, which was the second fastest ton for India in the shortest format until Thursday.
(Manas Dasgupta)