First Indian to score century in T20 cricket: Suresh Raina, Harmanpreet Kaur hold records

Being the first to score a century for your country in any form of cricket is an honour only a handful of players get to boast of.

For the Indian men’s cricket team, Suresh Raina was the first to score a T20I century while Harmanpreet Kaur is the first Indian to register a hundred in women’s international T20 cricket.

First Indian to score century in T20I

Suresh Raina became the first Indian batter to score a century in international T20 cricket on May 2, 2010. Raina registered his maiden hundred in the format against South Africa in the 2010 T20 World Cup held in the West Indies.

The stylish left-handed batter stepped up after India were wobbling at 32/2 inside six overs at Saint Lucia. Raina and Yuvraj Singh stitched an 88-run partnership to pull India back into the contest.

Raina scored just 19 off the first 22 balls he faced. He survived South African pace spearhead Dale Steyn and then upped the ante against Rory Kleinveldt and Albie Morkel to improve the scoring rate. 

Raina reached his century with a six on the third ball of the final over but was dismissed on the very next ball. The late flourish propelled India to 186/5 in 20 overs with Suresh Raina top-scoring with a 60-ball 101. Raina’s innings included nine fours and five sixes.

South African batters mounted a solid chase but India managed to eke out a narrow 14-run victory to seal a place in the next round of the competition.

Raina, at 23 years and 197 days, became the youngest Indian T20 captain when he led the team during India’s tour of Zimbabwe after the World Cup. Raina scored a hundred on his Test debut against Sri Lanka in the same year and became the first Indian to score centuries in all three formats of the game.

First Indian to score century in domestic T20 cricket

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma is the first Indian to score a century in domestic T20 cricket. His 101 off 45 for Mumbai against Gujarat at the 2007 Inter State Twenty-20 Tournament (now Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy), was the first T20 hundred by an Indian batter. The unbeaten knock helped Mumbai chase down the target of 141 with five wickets and 15 balls to spare at the Brabourne Stadium.

First Indian to score century in IPL

Manish Pandey’s 114 off 73 balls at the Centurion for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) against the now-defunct Deccan Chargers (DC) in the 2009 Indian Premier League (IPL) season is the first century by an Indian in the IPL. RCB posted 170/4 and won the match by 12 runs.

First Indian to score century in women’s T20 Internationals

A year after guiding India to the ODI World Cup final, Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur unleashed a quickfire 103 off 51 balls against New Zealand in the 2018 T20 World Cup opener in Guyana, the West Indies.

Harmanpreet Kaur came into bat with India reeling at 40/3 inside six overs. After steadying the ship with Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur changed the gears and notched up her fifty in 33 balls. 

The Indian captain continued to strike at a brisk rate and brought up her hundred in just 49 balls. Her innings included seven fours and eight sixes and helped India reach 194/5. Suzie Bates got the Kiwis off to a good start but her team fell short by 34 runs.