Rahmanullah Garbaz Rewrote the record books with a 48-ball century against India in a rain-shortened first ODI in Dharamsala. The century was the fastest ever by an Afghan batsman in ODI cricket, surpassing all previous Afghan records. It was also Garbaz’s fastest ODI century of his career, his ninth overall in the format, and the fastest ODI century recorded in the India-Afghanistan match.Garbaz eventually departed with a sensational 102 off 51 balls, an innings full of power and aggression. He hit eight fours and eight sixes before Nitish Kumar Reddy ended his brilliant stay at the crease. The right-hander had already made headlines in the innings when he completed his half-century in just 25 balls. The effort became the second fastest ODI fifty by an Afghanistan batsman, behind only Mohammad Nabi’s 24-ball half-century against Sri Lanka in Lahore in 2023. RahmanA 26-ball fifty against Pakistan in Colombo completed the top three.Best conversion rate from 50 to 100 in ODIs56.25 – Rehmanullah Garbaz (9 hundreds)43.48 – Calum MacLeod (10 hundreds)42.86 – Daryl Mitchell (9 centuries)41.82 – Quinton de Kock (23 hundreds)41.22 – Virat Kohli (54 centuries)(at least 7 hundreds)Fastest half-centuries in ODIs For Afghanistan (facing balls):24 balls – Mohammad Nabi v Sri Lanka, Lahore, 202325 balls – Rahmanullah Garbaz v India, Dharamsala, 202626 balls – Mujibur Rahman v Pakistan, Colombo, 2023Garbaz’s fireworks 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 Azmatullah Omarzai And Hashmatullah Shahidi added 121 runs.His brilliant innings came in a match that had already seen left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Harsh Dubey and fast bowler Gurnur Brar make their ODI debuts for India. With rain reducing the contest to 25 overs per side, Garbaz made full use of the shorter format, attacking the Indian bowlers from the start and producing one of the most devastating innings by an Afghanistan batsman against India.
