On This Day, October 4: On a historic day in cricket, Shahid Afridi hogged the limelight by breaking the world record of the fastest century ever scored in ODIs.

Promoted to bat at No. 3 in his first-ever ODI match during the KCA Centenary Tournament in Nairobi, Afridi had been unleashing a batting frenzy against Sri Lanka and, in no surprise, at 100 off just 37 balls, broke Sanath Jayasuriya’s previous record of 48 balls.

But that wasn’t the end of Afridi’s heroics. He also equaled Jayasuriya’s record for the most sixes in an ODI innings with his contribution of 11 sixes in an innings. Not to forget, Afridi broke another record by scoring 28 runs off one over faced by Jayasuriya, exceptional for any batter except Jayasuriya.

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Afridi’s record stood as the fastest to a century for 17 years before Corey Anderson broke it by scoring the most sensational 36-ball century. The same milestone was reached in 31 balls by AB de Villiers a year after, making it an exciting chapter in cricket history, showing how the game has always evolved, and the talent that is enormous.

#OnThisDay in 1996 @SAfridiOfficial Smashed a Fastest Century against Sri lanka on just 37 Balls👍

Runs: 102
Balls: 40
Fours: 6
Sixes: 11
S.R: 255

Shahid Afridi was awarded man of the match! 🇵🇰❤️💥

Boom Boom ❤️💥#Memories #ShahidAfridi@SAfridiOfficial pic.twitter.com/t0Ti4xXuvP

— Fahad Fayyaz (@FahadFayyaz_10) October 3, 2024

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