Abhishek Sharma leads superhuman charge as India whitewash Afghanistan

Stars and boundaries rained alike in New Delhi as Abhishek Sharma shattered records in a flash, smashing a match-winning ton and propelling India to a clean sweep of Afghanistan. A dominant performance saw India's top order put up a sparkling show before the bowlers were clinical enough to knock Afghanistan off their feet.

Winning the toss, Afghanistan opted to bowl. Batting for the first time in the series, Sharma hunkered down to business in no time, and the next thing the hosts knew was that they were being ripped open into a thousand smithereens, with the history books needing a major uplift.

Sharma and Sanju Samson smashed 142 runs for the opening stand from just 9.5 overs, forcing the Afghan bowlers into an unprecedented retreat. It didn't matter who held the white cherry, but they were being smacked, irrespective of where they landed, what discipline they stuck to and how they managed to pitch them.

Sharma became the fastest centurion in T20I cricket from a Full Member ICC nation when he brought up his century off just 30 balls. In the overall list, it is the third-fastest century in T20I cricket, topped by Sahil Chauhan for Estonia against Cyprus and Turkey's Muhammad Fahad against Bulgaria.

Sharma fell for 108 off just 34 balls, smacking nine fours and 11 sixes, as Afghanistan could only play fetch while he kept dispensing the ball into the stands over and over again. It was eventually Rashid Khan who got the better of Sharma, but by then, India had already inflicted irreparable damage on Afghanistan.

Sanju Samson, who was happy to play second fiddle to Sharma's madness, pressed on the accelerator after the latter's departure. He brought up his eighth half-century in T20Is from just 34 balls before Azmatullah Omarzai could remove him from the equation. After India's opening dominance, the middle order lost their rhythm, trying to build onto what Samson and Sharma had pulled off at the start.

Apart from Shreyas Iyer's 20-ball 29, India didn't find anything concrete to make the big swing towards 250, as they could only tot up 221/7 at the end of their 20 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai was the pick of the Afghan bowlers, with figures of 2/27.

Afghanistan did get off to a fine start, courtesy of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (15) and Ibrahim Zadran (25), as the two added 31 runs for the opening stand. However, once Axar Patel breached the defences of Gurbaz, India forced open the floodgates in no time at all.

Axar Patel dealt a second blow in short succession, getting the better of Sediqullah Atal (1), while Jasprit Bumrah castled Darwish Rasooli (0) for a golden duck. Afghanistan only nosedived further, and India called the shots emphatically.

Zadran fell to Yash Thakur as India drove a stake through the heart of Afghan resistance. It was a mere formality for the Men in Blue from thereon, as they bundled out Afghanistan for 94. India secured their best win against Afghanistan in T20Is, registering a 127-run victory.

Ravi Bishnoi and Nitish Kumar Reddy claimed three wickets each, while Axar Patel supported them aptly with figures of 2/9. Abhishek Sharma bagged both the Player of the Match award and the Player of the Series award for his scintillating performances throughout the series.