If Sunday offered a glimpse into the comeback of Abhishek Sharma, Thursday offered the full package. In the final match of the three-T20I series against Afghanistan, the left-hander brought up his century in barely 30 deliveries, making and breaking a plethora of records in the process.

The onslaught began early – in only the second over, when Abhishek took on Azmatullah Omarzai, hitting the medium pacer for a couple of sixes and a four. The treatment offered to Fazalhaq Farooqi was even harsher — two sixes, again, but as many fours as well to go with it.

The half-century arrived a couple of overs later, with yet another six, off Mohammad Nabi’s bowling. Abhishek required only 16 deliveries to record the feat, which happens to be the joint-fourth fastest T20I half-century by an Indian. It was also the sixth time the 26-year-old had recorded a fifty in less than 20 deliveries.

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Abhishek Sharma's place in record books

1. Abhishek Sharma — 31 deliveries (vs Afghanistan, 2026, New Delhi)


2. Rohit Sharma — 35 deliveries (vs Sri Lanka, 2017, Indore)


3. Abhishek Sharma — 37 deliveries (vs England, 2025, Mumbai)


4. Sanju Samson — 40 deliveries (vs Bangladesh, 2024, Hyderabad)


5. Tilak Varma — 41 deliveries (vs South Africa, 2024, Johannesburg)

Fastest T20I fifties by Indians:

1. Yuvraj Singh — 12 deliveries (vs England, 2007, Durban)


2. Abhishek Sharma — 14 deliveries (vs New Zealand, 2026, Guwahati)


3. Shivam Dube — 15 deliveries (vs New Zealand, 2026, Visakhapatnam)


4. Hardik Pandya — 16 deliveries (vs South Africa, 2025, Hyderabad)


4 Abhishek Sharma — 16 deliveries (vs Afghanistan, 2026, New Delhi)

And yet, he was only getting started — more records would tumble in the next few minutes.

Scoring 51 runs off the next 14 deliveries he faced, Abhishek recorded a century in merely 30 deliveries. The knock saw him climbing to the zenith of the fastest T20I hundreds leaderboard for Test-playing nations, and third overall, with only Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan (27 deliveries) and Turkey’s Muhammad Fahad (29 deliveries) ahead of him.

Abhishek Sharma after reaching his half century in just 30 balls against Afghanistan.

He was gone in the 10th over, when trying to smash a Rashid Khan googly into the stands, the opener edged into the gloves of wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz. By then, Abhishek had scored 108 runs in 34 deliveries — 102 of those coming in boundaries alone.

For India, the record for the fastest T20I century previously belonged to former captain Rohit Sharma, who reached the landmark in 35 balls against Sri Lanka in 2017.