Estonian Sahil Chauhan calls Rohit Sharma his inspiration after breaking the world record in the T20 ton bat
Estonia’s batsman Sahil Chauhan. File | Image credit: ICC
Indian-born Estonian batsman Sahil Chauhan called Rohit Sharma his inspiration after he hit the fastest-ever T20 century against Cyprus, which took him just 27 balls.
The 32-year-old Chauhan hit 18 sixes and six fours on Monday to reach a whopping 144 off 41 balls.
He broke the record for the fastest century in all of T20 cricket held by Chris Gayle, who had scored a 30-ball ton in the Indian Premier League, as well as Namibian Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton’s record for the fastest T20 international century (off 33 balls).
“I have been a huge fan of Rohit Sharma ever since I saw him play. He is a brilliant player who doesn’t let himself get pressured,” Chauhan was quoted as saying by FanCode.
“No matter what the situation, he always plays his game. I have learnt a lot from him. His hook shots are my favourite,” said Chauhan, who hails from Manakpur Devilal village in Haryana.
Recalling his journey from a village in Haryana to Estonia and how he discovered cricket in the European country, Chauhan admitted that he was pleasantly surprised to get a chance.
“My uncle was the reason I moved to Estonia. He has a small restaurant business and that’s where I work,” he said.
“I started playing here in 2019. I was really bored, so I searched for cricket in Estonia on Google (and) found the contact details of a team and called them. I asked, ‘Do you play cricket?’ They replied, ‘Yes, we play cricket.'” “I said, ‘Are you serious?’ and they replied, ‘Yes.’ That’s how I started playing here,” he added.
Chauhan said he has been playing cricket since his childhood.
“I used to play a lot of cricket in my village in India. I started playing gully cricket when I was 6 or 7 years old and never really stopped,” he said.
Chasing 192 after the fifth over, Estonia had slipped to 40 for three when Chauhan came out to bat at number 5 and helped his side claim victory by six wickets with seven overs to spare.
“I was just thinking about the innings and the target we had to chase. I just played to get the ball and that was it. The ball came to the bat well and I just played my shots,” he recalled of his knock.