India opener Abhishek Sharma created history on Wednesday by smashing a century off just 30 balls against Afghanistan in the third T20 International in Delhi.
The explosive knock made Sharma the fastest centurion in T20Is among batters from Full Member nations, surpassing the previous record of 33 balls jointly held by Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and New Zealand’s Finn Allen.
Raza reached his 33-ball century against Gambia in 2024, while Allen matched the mark against South Africa during the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Sharma also broke the record for the fastest T20I century by an Indian batter. The previous record belonged to Rohit Sharma, who scored a 35-ball hundred against Sri Lanka in 2017.
However, the overall record for the fastest century in men’s T20 internationals remains with Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan, who reached three figures in 27 balls against Cyprus in 2024.
The century was Sharma’s third in T20 internationals. Among Indian batters, only Rohit Sharma, with five centuries, and Suryakumar Yadav, with four, have scored more T20I hundreds.
Sharma’s extraordinary acceleration was evident from the start. He reached his first 50 runs from just 16 balls before scoring another 50 in his next 14 deliveries.
He was eventually dismissed in the 10th over after scoring 108 off 34 balls, including nine fours and 11 sixes.
At the time of his dismissal, India were 142 for one, meaning Sharma had contributed more than 76 percent of the team’s total.
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