Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi achieved his first ODI century against India in the third ODI held at Chennai's Chepauk Stadium on Saturday. This milestone makes him the fourth slowest batter to reach a maiden ODI ton in terms of days elapsed since debut.
Shahidi's Innings
Coming to the crease when Afghanistan was struggling at 26 for 2, Shahidi played a crucial knock of 102 runs off 131 balls, featuring 13 boundaries and one six, at a strike rate of 77.86. His innings helped stabilize the innings after early wickets.
Days to Maiden Century
Shahidi took 4,644 days from his ODI debut in 2013 to reach his first three-figure score. This is the fourth highest number of days taken by any batter to achieve this feat. The list includes Sri Lanka's Arjuna Ranatunga (4,674 days), India's Sunil Gavaskar (4,858 days), and Zimbabwe's Regis Chakabva (5,040 days).
Slowest Century for Afghanistan
His century came off 126 balls, making it the second slowest for Afghanistan in ODIs, behind Ibrahim Zadran's 131-ball ton against Australia during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in Mumbai.
Career Statistics
In 96 ODIs, Shahidi has accumulated 2,607 runs in 94 innings at an average of 33.42 and a strike rate of 67.80. He has one century and 22 half-centuries, with a best score of 102. He is Afghanistan's fourth highest run-scorer in ODIs. The leading run-getter for Afghanistan is Rahmat Shah with 4,121 runs in 128 matches, averaging 35.22, with five centuries and 33 fifties.
Match Summary
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Prasidh Krishna's devastating spell of 5 for 23 reduced Afghanistan to 36 for 4 in the powerplay. A vital 105-run partnership between Azmatullah Omarzai (50 off 56 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and Shahidi revived the innings. After Omarzai's dismissal, Indian bowlers struck regularly, but Shahidi reached his maiden ODI century before Afghanistan were bowled out for 218 runs. Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, and Harsh Dubey each took one wicket.
