Afghan Rehmanullah Gurbaz (AP Photo)
Rahmanullah Gurbaz rewrote the record books with a stunning 48-ball century against India in the rain-shortened first ODI in Dharamsala. The hundred was the fastest ever by an Afghan player in ODI cricket, surpassing all previous Afghan records.
It was also the fastest century of Gurbaz’s ODI career, ninth overall in the format, and the fastest ODI hundred ever scored in an India-Afghanistan encounter.Gurbaz eventually departed for 102 off 51 balls, an innings full of power and aggression. He hit eight fours and eight sixes before Nitish Kumar Reddy ended his impressive stay at the crease.
The right-hander had already made headlines earlier in the innings when he reached his half-century in just 25 balls. The effort became the second fastest ODI fifty by an Afghan batsman, behind only Mohammad Nabi’s 24-ball fifty against Sri Lanka in Lahore in 2023. Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s 26-ball fifty against Pakistan in Colombo completes the top three.Best 50s to 100s conversion rate in ODIs56.25 – Rahmanullah Gurbaz (9 hundreds)43.48 – Callum McLeod (10 hundreds)42.86 – Darryl Mitchell (9 hundreds)41.82 – Quinton de Kock (23 hundreds)41.22 – Virat Kohli (54 hundreds)(minimum 7 hundreds)Fastest ODI fifties For Afghanistan (via balls faced):24 balls – Mohammad Nabi vs Sri Lanka, Lahore, 202325 balls – Rahmanullah Gurbaz vs India, Dharamsala, 202626 balls – Mujibur Rahman vs Pakistan, Colombo, 2023Gurbaz’s fireworks also helped Afghanistan register only their second century partnership against India in ODI cricket. The previous three-figure stand came during the 2023 ODI World Cup in Delhi, when Azamatullah Omarzai and Hashmatullah Shahidi added 121 runs.
His stunning innings came in a match that had already seen India hand over their ODI debut to all-rounder Harsh Dubey and fast bowler Gurnor Brar. With rain reducing the contest to 25 overs per side, Gurbaz took full advantage of the shortened format, taking the attack to the Indian bowlers from the start and producing one of the most devastating innings by an Afghanistan batsman against India.