Hashmatullah Shahidi (Image credit: Afghanistan Cricket Board)

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi finally got his long-awaited first ODI hundred, producing a fighting knock of 102 against India in the third and final ODI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.The century was a landmark one for Shahidi not just because it was his maiden ODI ton, but also because of the long wait involved. Having made his ODI debut in 2013, Shahidi took 4644 days to score his first hundred in the format – the fourth-longest gap between an ODI debut and maiden century in men’s cricket.Only Zimbabwe’s Regis Chakabva (5,040 days), India’s Sunil Gavaskar (4,858 days) and Sri Lanka’s Arjuna Ranatunga (4,674 days) waited longer for their first ODI hundred.

Most days from ODI debut to maiden ODI century

Shahidi’s special innings came at a time when Afghanistan were in deep trouble. After opting to bat first, the visitors slumped to 36/4 inside the first 10 overs as Prasidh Krishna ripped through the top order.Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah and Darwish Rasooli all fell cheaply, with Prasidh finishing the innings with career-best figures of 5/23.With wickets tumbling around him, Shahidi took charge of the recovery. The left-hander played a patient innings, finding gaps regularly and rotating the strike while ensuring Afghanistan did not suffer a complete collapse.He first added 105 runs for the fifth wicket with Azmatullah Omarzai, who made a brisk 50 off 56 balls. The partnership helped Afghanistan regain some stability after the early damage.Shahidi reached his fifty off 64 balls before continuing to anchor the innings. Even after suffering cramps in the latter stages of his knock, he carried on and brought up his maiden ODI century off 128 deliveries.The milestone came fittingly with a boundary off Washington Sundar. Shahidi eventually finished with 102 off 131 balls, an innings that included 13 fours and a six.He later shared another important stand of 57 runs with veteran Mohammad Nabi as Afghanistan crossed the 200-run mark.Once Nabi departed, wickets fell quickly at the other end, but Shahidi battled through pain and fatigue to ensure Afghanistan posted a respectable total of 218.