Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan calls Rohit Sharma his inspiration after world record T20 ton
India-born Estonia batter Sahil Chauhan called Rohit Sharma his inspiration after smacking the fastest ever T20 century, which came off a mere 27 balls, against Cyprus.
The 32-year-old Chauhan clattered 18 sixes and six fours to make a whirlwind 41-ball 144 not out on Monday.
He broke the record for the fastest century in all T20 cricket, held by Chris Gayle who had made a 30-ball ton in the Indian Premier League, as well as Namibia’s Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton’s record of fastest T20 International century (off 33 balls).
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“I’ve been a big Rohit Sharma fan since I watched him play, he’s a brilliant player who doesn’t take any pressure,” Chauhan was quoted as saying by FanCode.
“Regardless of the situation, he always plays his game. I have learned 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 discovering cricket in the European country, Chauhan admitted he was pleasantly surprised to get an opportunity.
“My uncle was the reason I moved to Estonia. He has a small restaurant business and that is where I work,” he said.
“I started playing here in 2019. I was really bored so I started searching on Google for cricket in Estonia (and) I found a team’s contact information and called them.
I asked, ‘Are you playing cricket?’ They replied, ‘yes, we play cricket’.” “I said, ‘Are you serious about this?’ and they responded, ‘yes’. That’s how I started playing the game here,” he added.
Chauhan said he has played cricket right from his childhood.
“I used to play a lot of cricket in my village back in India. I started right from the age of 6-7, playing gully cricket and never really stopped,” he said.
Chasing 192, Estonia had slipped to 40 for three in the fifth over when Chauhan walked out to bat at No. 5 and helped his side wrap up the win with six wickets and seven overs to spare.
“I was just thinking about the innings and the target we had to chase. I just played to the merit of the ball, and that’s it. The ball was coming nicely to the bat, and I was just playing my shots,” he recalled about his knock.