World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma smashes Kapil Dev's 40-year record during India-Afghanistan match in Delhi

India captain Rohit Sharma lit up Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday with a blazing ton against Afghanistan in their ICC World Cup match.

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Rohit brought up his century, his 31st in ODIs, in just 63 deliveries, setting the record for the fastest century by an Indian in ICC World Cups in the process.

‘Hitman’ smashed 12 fours and four sixes en route to bringing up the three-figure mark, which he did with a boundary and a single off senior all-rounder Mohammad Nabi’s bowling in the 18th over.

The record was previously held by the legendary Kapil Dev, who had brought up the milestone in just 72 deliveries during his iconic knock of 175 against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells in the 1983 World Cup.

The century is also Rohit’s seventh in ICC World Cups. He incidentally holds the record for most centuries in a single edition of ICC’s showpiece tournament, having scored five of them in the 2019 edition.

LIVE: India vs Afghanistan, ICC World Cup match in Delhi

The fireworks off Rohit’s bat, meanwhile, would propel Team India to an start in their chase of the 273-run target set by Afghanistan. The India skipper, who was among the three batters dismissed for a duck in their opening game against Australia in Chennai, scored the lion’s share of runs in the opening partnership that was ultimately worth 156.

Ishan Kishan, who once again opened today in Shubman Gill’s absence, played second fiddle for the most part and later brought up the 150 for the Men in Blue with maximum the very next delivery after Rohit brought up his century. He would, however, be dismissed for a run-a-ball 47 by Rashid Khan the following over.

Rohit too would fall victim to Rashid’s guide later in the innings, getting castled by the star leg-spinner while attempting a slog sweep to depart for an 84-ball 131. At that point however, the Men in Blue had already crossed the 200-mark and had plenty of wickets and overs to spare in the chase.

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Afghanistan had earlier posted a competitie 272/8 — a marked improvement on the part of their batters after getting shot out for 156 by Bangladesh in Dharamsala. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai led the way with knocks of 80 and 62 respectively, the two stitching a 121-run stand for the fourth wicket.