Table of Contents
Abhishek Sharma’s stunning 30-ball century against Afghanistan has received special praise from India’s former T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. He was left in awe after watching the young opener destroy the Afghanistan bowling attack in the third and final T20I in Delhi.
Suryakumar took to Instagram to celebrate Abhishek’s incredible performance in the third and final T20I against Afghanistan on Thursday, September 17, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Earlier, 6,6,4,4! Abhishek Sharma smashes 23 runs off Fazalhaq Farooqi in 3rd T20I.
Suryakumar Yadav reacts to Abhishek Sharma’s record-breaking 30-ball century.
Abhishek Sharma smashed his century in only 30 balls and became the fastest Indian batter to smash a T20I century in the third and final T20I against Afghanistan. The left-handed batter also became the fastest batter from a Full Member nation to score a T20I hundred.
He broke 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 the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Following his record-breaking hundred, Suryakumar Yadav shared Abhishek’s picture from his meditation-style celebration on his Instagram story and praised the youngster.
The former Indian captain has called the young Indian opener’s performance just “wow” and also described him as “so special," along with a heart, a Hugging Face emoji, and two nazar amulet emojis.
SURYAKUMAR YADAV INSTAGRAM STORY FOR ABHISHEK SHARMA ❤️ pic.twitter.com/vIseueWsGk
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 17, 2026
Abhishek Sharma breaks Rohit Sharma’s record.
The Southpaw broke Rohit Sharma’s Indian record for the fastest T20I century. The former Indian head coach had reached his hundred in 35 balls against Sri Lanka in 2017, but Abhishek achieved the feat in just 30 balls. He is now the Indian batter with the fastest T20I hundred.
Sahil Chauhan still holds the overall record for the fastest century in T20I cricket. The Estonian batter smashed a 27-ball hundred against Cyprus in 2024.
How Abhishek Sharma dominates Afghanistan
This was Abhishek’s third T20I century. Only Rohit Sharma, with five hundreds, and Suryakumar Yadav, with four, have scored more T20I centuries for India than the young Indian opener.
In a brutal attack on the Afghanistan bowlers, Abhishek had reached his fifty in just 16 balls and needed only another 14 deliveries to complete his century. The left-handed opener was eventually dismissed after scoring 108 runs from 34 balls, with nine fours and 11 sixes to his name. His 11 sixes came at a remarkable rate of one every 3.09 balls.
Abhishek Sharma adds another T20I record to his name
Abhishek created another major record by scoring the most runs by a batter in the first six overs of a men’s T20I. He smashed 76 off just 22 balls during the powerplay, going past Portugal’s Kuldeep Gholiya, who had scored 74 off 25 balls against Malta in 2023.
He also extended his own record for the most T20I fifties in 20 balls or fewer. His latest fifty came from only 16 balls, taking his total to six such fifties. Abhishek has also reached 10 centuries in T20 cricket, equalling Virat Kohli’s record for the most hundreds by an Indian in the T20 format. Abhishek now needs just one more century to become India’s leading T20 century-maker.
