The world record wasn't broken, but Abhishek achieved a new feat.

India's Abhishek Sharma fell short of breaking the world record for the fastest century in international T20 cricket. However, by scoring a magnificent century against Afghanistan, the Indian opener claimed the record for the fastest hundred among Full Member nations.

Abhishek reached his century off just 30 balls during the third T20 match of the series at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium. This stands as the third-fastest century in international T20 history; the overall record for the fastest hundred remains held by Estonia's Sahil Chauhan.

Nevertheless, Abhishek set another world record en route to his century. He now holds the record for the highest individual score in the powerplay of an international T20 match, having scored 76 runs on his own during the first six overs.

Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran won the toss and elected to field, anticipating that the pitch would offer assistance to the bowlers early on. However, Abhishek unleashed a storm against the Afghan bowlers right from the start of the match.

He hit his first boundary off the fourth ball of the opening over. In the second over, he struck two sixes and a four off Azmatullah Omarzai. He followed this by hitting two sixes and two fours off Fazalhaq Farooqi in the subsequent over.

Abhishek completed his half-century off just 14 balls by hitting a six off Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the fourth over. In the final over of the powerplay, he hit two fours and a six off Rashid Khan, taking his personal tally to 76 runs by the end of the six overs; India's total score at that stage stood at 100 runs.

Previously, the record for the highest individual score in the powerplay was held by Portugal's Kuldeep Gholiya, who scored 74 runs off 25 balls against Malta in 2023. Abhishek surpassed that record while facing three fewer balls.

The opening partnership for India yielded 142 runs. Ultimately, India posted a total of 221 for 7 in their 20 overs. Abhishek played a destructive innings of 108 runs off 34 balls, featuring 9 fours and 11 sixes. His innings came to an end when he was caught by the wicketkeeper off the bowling of Rashid Khan. At the time of writing, Afghanistan had scored 31 runs for no loss in 3 overs.