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New Delhi: Rahmanullah Gurbaz smashed a sensational hundred to lead Afghanistan’s fightback in the 1st ODI against India at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on Saturday, June 13. He completed his 9th ODI century in just 48 balls with the help of eight boundaries and as many maximums.

He was removed by Nitish Reddy for 102 runs in the very next over as Afghanistan reached 143/4 in the rain-shortened 25-over contest. Gurbaz has smashed the fastest century for Afghanistan in ODI history. Earlier, the record for the fastest ODI hundred by an Afghan batter was held by Mohammad Shahzad, who reached the milestone in 72 balls against Scotland in 2010.

Fastest ODI hundreds for Afghanistan (by balls faced)
48 – Rahmanullah Gurbaz vs IND, Dharamsala, 2026
72 – Mohammad Shahzad vs SCOT, Alloway, 2010
72 – Karim Sadiq vs NED, Sharjah, 2012
85 – Nawroz Mangal vs SCOT, Sharjah, 2013
85 – Mohammad Shahzad vs IRE, Belfast, 2019

The visitors got off to a poor start and lost three early wickets, with debutant Gurnoor Brar removing Ibrahim Zadran for 1 run in the second over. Arshdeep Singh then dismissed Sediqullah Atal and Rahmat Shah to leave Afghanistan reeling at 26/3 in 5 overs.

Despite the early setbacks, Gurbaz played a counterattacking innings to put the pressure back on the Indian bowlers. He stitched a 116-run partnership with captain Hashmatullah Shahidi. Their partnership helped Afghanistan to recover strongly and put themselves in a good position to post a challenging target for the hosts.

Gurbaz also hit the second-fastest ODI hundred against India in Dharamshala. But the record for fastest century in the ODI format against India remains with Shahid Afridi, who reached the milestone in 45 balls.

Fastest ODI hundreds 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

more to follow..