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Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi registered his maiden ODI ton against India in the third ODI at Chennai on Saturday, becoming the fourth-slowest ODI player to reach his first three-figure mark in terms of days taken.
Against India during the third ODI at the iconic Chepauk Stadium, Shahidi came when Afghanistan was 26/2, and he played a knock befitting of a crisis man, scoring 102 in 131 balls, with 13 fours and a six at a strike rate of 77.86. Shahidi took 4,644 days since his ODI debut in 2013 to reach his maiden century in the format, the fourth most days taken by a batter to do so, below Sri Lanka legend Arjuna Ranatunga (4,674 days), Indian batting icon Sunil Gavaskar (4,858), and Zimbabwe's Regis Chakabva (5,040 days). He reached his century in 126 balls, the second slowest for Afghanistan in ODIs, behind Ibrahim Zadran's 131-ball century against Australia in Mumbai during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. Now in 96 ODIs, Shahidi has scored 2,607 runs in 94 innings at an average of 33.42 and a strike rate of 67.80, with a century and 22 fifties and a best score of 102. He is Afghanistan's fourth-highest run-getter in ODIs. The most runs for Afghanistan in ODIs are scored by Rahmat Shah, with 4,121 runs in 128 matches and 123 innings at an average of 35.22, with five centuries and 33 fifties and a best score of 114. Coming to the match, Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first, with Prasidh Krishna (5/23) reducing Afghanistan to 36/4 in the powerplay. A 105-run stand between Azmatullah Omarzai (50 in 56 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and the skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (102 in 131 balls, with 13 fours and a six) brought Afghanistan back into the game. However, after Omarzai's dismissal, Indian bowlers kept striking regularly, but Shahidi managed to bring up his maiden ODI century, with Afghanistan skittled out for 218 runs. Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey also got a wicket each. (ANI)
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