Rahmanullah Gurbaz scripted history during the series opener against India in Dharamsala by smashing a breathtaking, record-breaking century. Gurbaz cracked the fastest ODI century for Afghanistan. The explosive opening batter took just 48 balls to reach the triple-figure mark, completely dismantling the Indian bowling attack and setting the tone for the match with his sheer aggression.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz tonks fastest ODI ton for Afghanistan
This spectacular innings also etched Gurbaz's name into the record books as the creator of the second-fastest ODI century ever scored against India. He falls just short of the all-time record held by Pakistan's legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who blasted a 45-ball century against India in Kanpur back in 2005.
Shortly after reaching his historic milestone, Rahmanullah Gurbaz's spectacular innings finally came to an end. The explosive opener was cleaned up by Nitish Kumar Reddy on the third delivery of the 16th over, providing Team India with a massive sigh of relief in the first innings of the match.
Gurbaz departed after a breathtaking 102 runs off just 51 balls. His highly destructive knock completely dismantled the bowling attack, featuring a display of pure power that was laced with eight boundaries and an equal number of massive sixes.
Batters with fastest ODI centuries vs India (by balls faced):
45 - Shahid Afridi (PAK), Kanpur, 2005
48 - Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG), Dharamsala, 2026
57 - James Faulkner (AUS), Bengaluru, 2013
57 - AB de Villiers (SA), Mumbai WS, 2015
57 - Michael Bracewell (NZ), Hyderabad, 2023
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India's Playing XI:
Shubman Gill(c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan(w), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
Afghanistan's Playing XI:
Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Saleem Safi, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi