NEW DELHI: Explosive left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma etched his name into the record books on Thursday, slamming the fastest T20 International century by an Indian batter during a breathtaking knock against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Abhishek reached his hundred off just 30 deliveries, obliterating the previous Indian record held by former skipper Rohit Sharma, who had smashed a 35-ball century against Sri Lanka in December 2017.

Walking out to open the innings, Abhishek weathered a quiet opening before changing gears rapidly. After hitting his first boundary on the fourth ball of the match, he shifted to destructive mode in the second over against Azmatullah Omarzai, collecting two sixes and a four. He then dismantled Fazalhaq Farooqi in the third over, hammering two maximums and as many boundaries off the first four deliveries.

Racing past his half-century in just 16 balls during the fifth over, Abhishek powered India past the 100-run mark single-handedly by the end of the powerplay. He brought up his milestone hundred in the ninth over with a calm single, capping off an extraordinary display of power-hitting.

His whirlwind stay at the crease finally ended in the 10th over when ace spinner Rashid Khan induced an edge behind the stumps. Abhishek departed for a sensational 108 runs off 34 balls, striking at a monumental 317.64 and decorating his innings with 11 colossal sixes and 9 boundaries.

With this knock, Abhishek also recorded the third-fastest T20I hundred in international cricket history, trailing only Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan (27 balls) and Turkey’s Muhammad Fahad (29 balls). Furthermore, his scorching century stands as the fastest ever recorded against a Test-playing nation in the format.