Fastest T20I Hundreds For India
Fastest T20I hundreds for India [Source: @BCCI/x]
T20I powerhouse India boasts an array of explosive batters who have dismantled bowling attacks with their sheer dominance. Over the years, several Indian cricketers have not only notched up centuries in the shortest format but have done so at breakneck speed. Here, we take a look at five of the fastest hundreds recorded by Indian cricketers in T20Is.
5. 45 balls – Suryakumar Yadav vs Sri Lanka in Rajkot, 2023
Indian T20I juggernaut Suryakumar Yadav shaped 112 unbeaten runs from just 51 balls against Sri Lanka during the series-deciding third match at Rajkot’s Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium back in January 2023. Marking the third of his many T20I tons, Suryakumar’s raging knock helped Team India set up a monumental 228-5 from their 20 overs.
Remarkably, the middle-order batter raced to his 100* from just 45 balls to record India’s second quickest century at the time, and the fifth fastest to date. The cricketer clattered seven boundaries and nine huge sixes in his innings as India won the match by 91 runs.
4. 41 balls – Tilak Varma vs South Africa in Johannesburg, 2024
Just a couple of days after hammering down his maiden T20I ton, Tilak Varma brought up his second successive hundred against South Africa, this time pummeling the hosts at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Batting first in the series-decider, Varma shared an unbroken 210-run partnership with fellow centurion Sanju Samson to catapult India to a match-winning total of 283-1 from 20 overs.
The 22-year-old packed 120* from just 47 deliveries with nine boundaries and 10 soaring sixes. As it turned out, Varma raced to his 100* from just 41 balls to outscore even senior partner Samson at one stage of the innings. The cricketer was fittingly declared the ‘Player of the Match’ as well as ‘Player of the Series’.
3. 40 balls – Sanju Samson vs Bangladesh in Hyderabad, 2024
Nearly a decade after making his T20I debut for India, blistering wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson got his time to shine under the sun by unfurling an innings for the ages, doing so against Bangladesh at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in October 2024.
Opening the innings for India alongside Abhishek Sharma, Samson tonked a 40-ball century, mounting 111 runs in all from just 47 deliveries with 11 scorching boundaries and eight towering sixes.
Samson’s 111, coupled with captain Suryakumar Yadav’s 35-ball 75 and thundering cameos from Riyan Parag (13-ball 34) and Hardik Pandya (18-ball 47) set up India’s highest-ever T20I total of 297-6 before winning the match by 133 runs.
2. 37 balls – Abhishek Sharma vs England in Mumbai, 2025
In the final T20I of India’s home series against England in February, brash young opener Abhishek Sharma exploded with seven boundaries and 13 huge sixes to mount 135 from just 54 deliveries. Slapping his second T20I ton, Abhishek raced to his century from just 37 balls to record India’s second fastest hundred and the fourth fastest overall among players from member nations.
Abhishek Sharma’s onslaught set up India’s highest powerplay score of 95-1, and a daunting total of 247-9 by the completion of their innings. Remarkably, his gala of 13 sixes marks the highest for any Indian batter in a single T20I outing, and his 135 also marks the highest individual score for any Indian cricketer in format history.
1. 35 balls – Rohit Sharma vs Sri Lanka in Indore, 2017
Back in December 2017 in Indore, Rohit Sharma muscled 118 runs from just 43 balls against a hapless Sri Lankan attack in the second T20I of the three-match series. The legendary opening batter raced to his landmark figure from just 35 balls to level up with David Miller for the then-fastest T20I century of all time, and the second fastest among member nations to date.
Sharma flayed Sri Lanka bowlers with 10 huge sixes and 12 boundaries and looked well on course to whack T20I cricket’s first-ever double hundred. However, a soft dismissal to Dushmantha Chameera in just the 13th over curtailed his ambitions.