Star opening batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored an incredible century off just 48 balls against India in the first ODI of the three-match series, which is being played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday.
He became the first Afghan cricket player to score a century in less than 50 balls, and it is also the fastest ton-by balls taken-for an Afghan batter in ODIs.
He surpassed the 14-year-old record set by Karim Sadiq, who in March 2012 scored a century off 72 balls against the Netherlands in Sharjah. It was also the second fastest century against India in this format. Gurbaz has now become only the second person in the world, after Shahid Afridi, to score a century against the Men in Blue in less than 50 balls.
Fastest ODI Century vs India
Shahid Afridi: 102 off 45 (2005)
Rahmanullah Gurbaz: 102 off 48 (2026)
AB de Villiers: 119 off 57 (2015)
AB de Villiers: 102 off 58 (2010)
Michael Bracewell: 140 off 57 (2023)
Additionally, Gurbaz is the first cricket player from Afghanistan to score 10 international hundreds. Rahmat Shah, Ibrahim Zadran, and Muhammad Shahzad are the only three others with more than five.
Afghanistan Batters With Most International Centuries
Rahmanullah Gurbaz: 10
Rahmat Shah: 8
Ibrahim Zadran: 7
Mohammad Shahzad: 7
Afghanistan lost early wickets in the power play in the encounter against that was cut to 25 overs because of rain, with Gurnoor Brar dismissing Ibrahim Zadran in the second over and Arshdeep Singh taking two to reduce the visitors to 26/3. However, Gurbaz displayed a remarkable disregard for the circumstances and was in sublime form right away.
Using his IPL expertise to his advantage, he hit eight fours and eight sixes, some of which were aided by the thin air in . After scoring 71% of the team’s runs, Nitish Kumar Reddy clean-bowled him for 102 off 51.