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Chris Gayle's world record of scoring the fastest T20 hundred has been officially broken. Sahil Chauhan has shattered his record. Gayle blasted a 30-ball ton while playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in an IPL match against Pune Warriors back in the year 2013.
The Universe Boss' 30-ball century remained the fastest hundred in T20 cricket history for more than a decade. However, Estonian player Sahil Chauhan has broken the record with a 27-ball century.
Playing against Cyprus, Chauhan raced to triple figures in just 27 deliveries. He finished with an unbeaten 41-ball 144*, which included 18 sixes. Notably, Chauhan also owns the record for the most sixes in a T20 innings now.
Estonia were down to 9/2 in a chase of 192 runs, but Sahil's blitzkrieg ensured that they won the match by six wickets with seven overs to spare. Before Sahil goes on to create more records in the cricket world, here's a list of five things that fans should know about the upcoming star from Estonia.
#1 Sahil Chauhan has only played 4 T20Is
It may surprise a few fans but Chauhan does not have much experience of playing T20I cricket. He made his T20I debut against Gibraltar on September 30, 2023. He played two matches on the same day and managed 18 runs.
Before the record-breaking ton against Cyprus, Chauhan only had the experience of playing three T20Is, where he scored 18 runs at an average of 18.
#2 Sahil Chauhan scored a duck before breaking Chris Gayle's record
Cyprus and Estonia played two T20Is on June 17. In the first game, Chauhan got out for a duck while batting at number four. He handed a catch to James Chialoufus on the first ball of his inning. Despite a golden duck from Chauhan, Estonia chased down a 196-run target with five wickets in hand.
After getting out for a golden duck in the first match, Chauhan launched an all-out attack on Cyprus bowlers in the second game. He completed his century in style with a six on the off-side.
#3 Sahil Chauhan was in fantastic touch during ECS Estonia
While Chauhan did not have much experience of T20I cricket before the series against Cyprus, he played a lot of games in Estonia. Notably, he participated in the ECS Estonia tournament.
As per a tweet posted by European Cricket's X handle, Chauhan had a couple of 90+ scores in ECS Estonia tournament. He finally touched triple digits against Cyprus.
#4 Sahil Chauhan is humble off the field
Estonia's coach Richard Cox took to X to shower praise on Chauhan after he achieved the world record. Describing how the middle-order batter is in real life, Cox wrote:
"When it’s your day it’s your day - love this man - huge talent but the most humble caring listening hard working cricketer you could ever wish to work with - no one more deserving of this than Sahil Chauhan."
#5 Chauhan can smash 100m+ sixes
Most fans may assume that if the matches happened in Episkopi, the ground size would not be that big. Estonia's coach Richard Cox mentioned in his tweet that Chauhan could have cleared any boundary in the world with his big-hitting skills.
Cox highlighted that some of the 18 sixes hit by Chauhan cleared a distance of 100 meters and more. It shows that a new talent has emerged in the cricket world. Perhaps, Chauhan can make it to T20 leagues one day if he continues in the same vein.
