📋 Table of Contents
- Fastest T20I Hundreds List
- 1. Abhishek Sharma – 30 Balls vs Afghanistan
- 2. Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton – 33 Balls vs Nepal
- 3. Kushal Malla – 34 Balls vs Mongolia
- 4. David Miller – 35 Balls vs Bangladesh
- 5. Rohit Sharma – 35 Balls vs Sri Lanka
- 6. Sudesh Wickramasekara – 35 Balls vs Turkey
- 7. Sivakumar Periyalwar – 39 Balls vs Turkey
- 8. Zeeshan Kukikhel – 39 Balls vs Austria
- 9. Johnson Charles – 39 Balls vs South Africa
- How the Fastest T20I Century Record Has Changed
- Fastest T20I Hundreds: Key Takeaways
- Conclusion
T20 International cricket is built around speed, aggression and innovation, and few achievements demonstrate those qualities better than a century scored in a remarkably low number of balls. A T20I hundred requires a batter to maintain an extraordinary scoring rate while facing international-quality bowling, making the fastest centuries in the format some of the most spectacular individual performances in cricket.
The record for the fastest T20I century in men’s cricket has changed several times in recent years. Nepal’s Kushal Malla and Namibia’s Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton both rewrote the record books with their remarkable knocks, before India’s Abhishek Sharma produced an even more spectacular fastest T20I century in September 2026.
Abhishek Sharma now holds the record after reaching three figures from just 30 balls against Afghanistan. The India opener’s innings came in the third T20I of the series and saw him break the previous mark of 33 balls held by Loftie-Eaton.
Here is a look at the fastest T20I hundreds in men’s cricket and the remarkable innings behind them.
Fastest T20I Hundreds List
| Rank | Player | Team | Balls | Opposition | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abhishek Sharma | India | 30 | Afghanistan | 2026 |
| 2 | Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton | Namibia | 33 | Nepal | 2024 |
| 3 | Kushal Malla | Nepal | 34 | Mongolia | 2023 |
| 4 | David Miller | South Africa | 35 | Bangladesh | 2017 |
| 5 | Rohit Sharma | India | 35 | Sri Lanka | 2017 |
| 6 | Sudesh Wickramasekara | Czech Republic | 35 | Turkey | 2019 |
| 7 | Sivakumar Periyalwar | Romania | 39 | Turkey | 2019 |
| 8 | Zeeshan Kukikhel | Hungary | 39 | Austria | 2022 |
| 9 | Johnson Charles | West Indies | 39 | South Africa | 2023 |
The list refers to men’s T20 Internationals.
1. Abhishek Sharma – 30 Balls vs Afghanistan
Abhishek Sharma holds the record for the fastest T20I hundred in men’s cricket, reaching his century in only 30 deliveries against Afghanistan on September 17, 2026.
The left-handed Indian opener reached his fifty from just 16 balls before accelerating further. He eventually brought up his hundred during the ninth over, producing one of the most explosive innings in India’s T20I history.
Abhishek’s century was particularly significant because it moved him ahead of the previous world record of 33 balls. He finished with 108 runs before being dismissed by Rashid Khan just before the halfway point of India’s innings.
His innings included 11 sixes, underlining the extraordinary power and scoring intent required to reach a T20I century in only 30 balls.
The performance also established Abhishek as India’s fastest T20I centurion. His innings came after a strong series in which he had already made 82 and 39 in the opening two matches.
2. Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton – 33 Balls vs Nepal
Before Abhishek Sharma’s extraordinary 30-ball hundred, Namibia’s Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton held the men’s T20I record.
Loftie-Eaton smashed a century from only 33 balls against Nepal in February 2024. His innings came during the Nepal T20I Tri-Series and helped Namibia post 206/4 in their 20 overs.
The Namibia batter reached his century with a boundary and eventually finished with 101 runs from 36 balls. His innings contained 11 fours and eight sixes.
The century was particularly impressive because Namibia were under pressure when Loftie-Eaton came to the crease. The team was 62/3 in the 11th over, but the batter transformed the innings with a remarkable counter-attacking display.
His 33-ball century broke the previous record held by Nepal’s Kushal Malla, who had reached three figures from 34 deliveries only a few months earlier.
Loftie-Eaton also contributed with the ball, taking two wickets as Namibia defeated Nepal. He was named Player of the Match.
3. Kushal Malla – 34 Balls vs Mongolia
Nepal’s Kushal Malla created history at the 2023 Asian Games when he scored a T20I century from just 34 balls against Mongolia.
At the time, Malla’s century was the fastest in men’s T20I cricket, surpassing the 35-ball efforts of David Miller, Rohit Sharma and Sudesh Wickramasekara.
Malla finished the innings unbeaten on 137 from 50 balls, producing a remarkable combination of power hitting and controlled aggression. His innings included 12 sixes.
The match was also historic because Nepal scored 314/3, becoming the first men’s team to pass 300 in a T20I. Nepal eventually bowled Mongolia out for 41 and won by 273 runs.
The performance therefore featured two major records: Malla’s 34-ball century and Nepal’s then-world-record T20I total.
ICC’s report from the Asian Games confirms that Malla’s 34-ball century overtook the previous 35-ball record shared by Miller, Rohit and Wickramasekara.
4. David Miller – 35 Balls vs Bangladesh
South Africa’s David Miller was the first player to score a men’s T20I century in just 35 balls.
Miller achieved the feat against Bangladesh in October 2017. His innings was an extraordinary display of power hitting and established a benchmark that appeared extremely difficult to surpass.
The South African left-hander’s record lasted only two months before Rohit Sharma matched it, but Miller remained one of the most destructive batters in T20 cricket.
His 35-ball century was also an important milestone in South African cricket, as Miller became the first Proteas player to score a T20I hundred.
ICC records note that Miller’s 35-ball century set a new world record in October 2017 before Rohit Sharma matched the mark later that year.
5. Rohit Sharma – 35 Balls vs Sri Lanka
India’s Rohit Sharma equalled Miller’s record in December 2017 when he smashed a century from 35 balls against Sri Lanka in Indore.
Rohit was at his destructive best throughout the innings, hitting 12 fours and 10 sixes on his way to 118 from 43 balls.
He reached his half-century in just 23 balls before accelerating dramatically. After reaching 97 from 34 deliveries, Rohit brought up his hundred from the next ball by finding the boundary.
His century helped India reach 260/5, which was India’s highest T20I total at the time.
Rohit’s 35-ball hundred remained the fastest T20I century by an Indian batter for several years. That record stood until Abhishek Sharma produced his 30-ball century in 2026.
ICC’s contemporary match report confirms that Rohit’s 35-ball century matched Miller’s record and included 12 fours and 10 sixes.
6. Sudesh Wickramasekara – 35 Balls vs Turkey
Czech Republic batter Sudesh Wickramasekara joined Miller and Rohit on the 35-ball mark in 2019.
Wickramasekara reached his century against Turkey during the same period in which several associate nations were producing extraordinary T20I batting performances.
His achievement demonstrated how T20I cricket had expanded beyond the traditional major cricketing nations. The 35-ball century placed Wickramasekara alongside two globally recognised stars.
For several years, the trio shared the fastest-century record before Kushal Malla broke it in 2023.
7. Sivakumar Periyalwar – 39 Balls vs Turkey
Romania’s Sivakumar Periyalwar is another associate-nation batter to feature prominently on the fastest T20I hundreds list.
Periyalwar scored a century from 39 balls against Turkey in 2019, continuing a remarkable period of high-scoring T20I cricket among emerging teams.
The performance is significant because it showed how quickly the T20 format was developing outside the traditional Full Member nations.
8. Zeeshan Kukikhel – 39 Balls vs Austria
Hungary batter Zeeshan Kukikhel also reached a T20I century in 39 balls, doing so against Austria.
His innings sits among the fastest hundreds recorded in men’s T20Is and highlights the increasingly aggressive approach adopted by associate teams.
The emergence of players such as Kukikhel, Periyalwar, Malla and Wickramasekara has added considerable depth to the list of the format’s fastest centurions.
9. Johnson Charles – 39 Balls vs South Africa
West Indies batter Johnson Charles completed a 39-ball T20I century against South Africa in March 2023.
Charles eventually scored 118 from 46 balls, including 10 fours and 11 sixes. His innings helped West Indies race to 179/4 in only 14 overs.
At the time, Charles’s century was the joint-second-fastest in men’s T20I cricket and the fastest by a West Indies batter.
His performance also surpassed the previous West Indies record held by Chris Gayle, who had scored a 47-ball T20I century against England during the 2016 T20 World Cup.
How the Fastest T20I Century Record Has Changed
The evolution of the record shows just how aggressively T20I batting has developed.
David Miller established the 35-ball benchmark in 2017. Rohit Sharma matched it later that year, while Sudesh Wickramasekara joined the pair in 2019.
The record remained at 35 balls until Kushal Malla produced a 34-ball century against Mongolia in 2023. Only months later, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton reduced the mark to 33 balls against Nepal.
Now, Abhishek Sharma has taken the record to another level with his 30-ball century against Afghanistan in 2026.
That progression—from 35 balls to 34, then 33 and finally 30—illustrates how the modern T20I game increasingly rewards batters who can score at extraordinary rates from the beginning of their innings.
Fastest T20I Hundreds: Key Takeaways
The fastest T20I century record has changed hands several times, but the current benchmark is held by India’s Abhishek Sharma.
The top three are:
- Abhishek Sharma – 30 balls
- Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton – 33 balls
- Kushal Malla – 34 balls
Behind them, David Miller, Rohit Sharma and Sudesh Wickramasekara share the 35-ball mark.
One of the most notable features of the list is its international diversity. India, South Africa, Namibia, Nepal, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary and West Indies all feature among the fastest century-makers.
As T20 cricket continues to evolve, batting strategies are becoming increasingly aggressive, with players targeting boundaries from the opening overs rather than waiting to build a traditional innings. That trend makes the fastest-century record one of the most fascinating statistical battles in international cricket.
For now, however, the record belongs to Abhishek Sharma, whose 30-ball hundred against Afghanistan stands as the fastest T20I century in men’s cricket.
Read More: Meet Abhishek Sharma Indias Left-Handed Powerhouse in T20Is
Conclusion
The fastest T20I hundreds showcase just how rapidly modern cricket has evolved, with batters constantly pushing the boundaries of power hitting and scoring efficiency. From David Miller and Rohit Sharma’s 35-ball centuries to Kushal Malla’s 34-ball effort and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton’s 33-ball record, the benchmark has continued to fall. Abhishek Sharma has now taken it a step further with his remarkable 30-ball century against Afghanistan, setting a new standard for explosive batting in T20I cricket. As the format continues to grow, the fastest T20I hundreds record could become even more difficult to predict, with the next generation of aggressive batters capable of rewriting the record books again.
