Abhishek Sharma smashed the fastest T20I century ever recorded by a batter from a Full Member nation, reaching three figures off just 30 balls during India's third T20I against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday.
The left handed opener eclipsed the previous record of 33 balls, jointly held by Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza against Gambia in 2024 and New Zealand's Finn Allen against South Africa at this year's T20 World Cup, by three deliveries.
His innings also comfortably surpassed the long standing Indian record set by Rohit Sharma, whose 35 ball century against Sri Lanka back in 2017 had stood for close to a decade before Thursday's performance.
The outright fastest century in all T20I cricket remains held by Estonia's Sahil Chauhan, who reached triple figures off just 27 balls against Cyprus in 2024, a mark that continues to sit above every Full Member effort to date.
Batting first after being invited to do so, India raced through the powerplay, with the opening pair adding 100 runs inside the first six overs as Abhishek set the tone with ferocious hitting from the very start of the innings.
He brought up his first fifty off 16 balls before accelerating even further, needing only 14 more deliveries to reach his century, a period during which Afghanistan's bowlers found no answer to his aggression.
Abhishek celebrated the milestone in unusual fashion, striking a six to move to 99 before completing the century with a single and sitting down in a meditation pose as his teammates and the home crowd erupted.
He eventually fell for 108 off 34 balls, holing out to leg spinner Rashid Khan with Rahmanullah Gurbaz completing the catch behind the stumps, having struck nine fours and 11 sixes during a knock that struck a boundary roughly once every three deliveries.
At the point of his dismissal, India stood at 142 for one, meaning Abhishek's contribution alone accounted for more than three quarters of the team's total, with opening partner Sanju Samson chipping in 34 from 25 balls during their stand.
This marked Abhishek's third T20I century, a tally bettered among Indian batters only by Rohit Sharma's five and Suryakumar Yadav's four hundreds in the format. The innings also arrived just after Abhishek had climbed to second in the ICC's T20I batting rankings, sitting behind only teammate Ishan Kishan.
The result came with the series already decided, India having wrapped up an unassailable 2-0 lead heading into the final match of the three game series against Afghanistan.
Fastest T20I centuries by Full Member batters
Abhishek Sharma, India, 30 balls, versus Afghanistan, September 17, 2026
Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe, 33 balls, versus Gambia, October 23, 2024
Finn Allen, New Zealand, 33 balls, versus South Africa, March 4, 2026
David Miller, South Africa, 35 balls, versus Bangladesh, October 29, 2017
Rohit Sharma, India, 35 balls, versus Sri Lanka, December 22, 2017