The fastest fifty in any form of T20 cricket is Dipendra Singh Airee’s nine-ball half-century for Nepal against Mongolia at the 2023 Asian Games — and because it came in a T20 international, the same innings holds the T20I record too. Nobody has got within two balls of it in either list.
Below are the three lists readers usually want kept apart: every T20 match, T20 internationals only, and the IPL. All figures are from ESPNcricinfo’s records, current to September 2026.
Fastest fifties in T20 cricket, all competitions
| Player (team) | Opponent | Balls | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dipendra Singh Airee (Nepal) | Mongolia | 9 | 2023 |
| Ashutosh Sharma (Railways) | Arunachal Pradesh | 11 | 2023 |
| Yuvraj Singh (India) | England | 12 | 2007 |
| Chris Gayle (Melbourne Renegades) | Adelaide Strikers | 12 | 2016 |
| Hazratullah Zazai (Kabul Zwanan) | Balkh Legends | 12 | 2018 |
| Sahil Chauhan (Estonia) | Cyprus | 12 | 2024 |
| Abhishek Sharma (Punjab) | Bengal | 12 | 2024 |
| Abidullah Kotwa (Austria) | Hungary | 12 | 2026 |
Ashutosh Sharma’s 11-ball fifty is the fastest in domestic T20 cricket — for Railways against Arunachal Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in October 2023. It is the only innings between Airee’s nine and the crowded group on 12.
⚠️ One caveat on Sahil Chauhan’s row, and it is a caveat about the source rather than the batter. ESPNcricinfo’s all-T20 list records that innings — his 144 not out off 41 balls against Cyprus at Episkopi in June 2024 — as a 12-ball fifty, while its own T20I list puts the same innings at 14. Statsguru shows only one Chauhan innings that day, so the two lists disagree about one knock. We have used each list for its own table rather than picking a winner.
Fastest fifties in T20 internationals
| Player (team) | Opponent | Balls | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dipendra Singh Airee (Nepal) | Mongolia | 9 | 2023 |
| Yuvraj Singh (India) | England | 12 | 2007 |
| Abidullah Kotwa (Austria) | Hungary | 12 | 2026 |
| Mirza Ahsan (Austria) | Luxembourg | 13 | 2019 |
| Tadiwanashe Marumani (Zimbabwe) | Gambia | 13 | 2024 |
| Muhammad Fahad (Turkey) | Bulgaria | 13 | 2025 |
| Jan Frylinck (Namibia) | Zimbabwe | 13 | 2025 |
| Shujaat Rasool (Bahrain) | Singapore | 13 | 2026 |
Airee’s nine-ball fifty came in Nepal’s 273-run win over Mongolia at Hangzhou in September 2023, in the men’s T20 competition at the Asian Games.
Yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball fifty is the fastest by an India batter and the most famous innings on this list. Against England at Durban in the 2007 T20 World Cup he took six sixes off one Stuart Broad over and finished on 58 from 16 balls. India made 218 for 4; England replied with 200 for 6 and lost by 18 runs. Austria’s Abidullah Kotwa equalled the 12 against Hungary in June 2026, nineteen years later.
📌 Note how many of these come from associate cricket — Nepal, Austria, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Namibia, Bahrain. T20I status was extended to every ICC member in 2019, and the fast-scoring records have shifted towards the smaller nations ever since.
Fastest fifties in the IPL
| Player (team) | Opponent | Balls | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals) | Kolkata Knight Riders | 13 | 2023 |
| Urvil Patel (Chennai Super Kings) | Lucknow Super Giants | 13 | 2026 |
| KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab) | Delhi Capitals | 14 | 2018 |
| Pat Cummins (Kolkata Knight Riders) | Mumbai Indians | 14 | 2022 |
| Romario Shepherd (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) | Chennai Super Kings | 14 | 2025 |
Jaiswal no longer holds the IPL record outright. His 13-ball fifty at Eden Gardens in May 2023 was matched by Urvil Patel for Chennai Super Kings against Lucknow Super Giants in May 2026, so the two share it.
Jaiswal’s remains the more complete innings. Chasing 150, he finished 98 not out from 47 balls with 12 fours and five sixes, and Rajasthan Royals got there in 13.1 overs with nine wickets standing.
Behind the top five sit a cluster of 15-ball fifties: Yusuf Pathan (2014), Sunil Narine (2017), Nicholas Pooran (2023), Jake Fraser-McGurk twice in 2024, Abhishek Sharma in 2026 — and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi three times in the 2026 season alone.
Fastest fifties in T20: quick answers
What is the fastest fifty in T20 cricket? Nine balls, by Dipendra Singh Airee for Nepal against Mongolia in 2023.
What is the fastest fifty in T20 internationals? The same innings — Airee’s nine-ball fifty is both the T20I and the all-T20 record.
Who has the fastest fifty by an Indian? Yuvraj Singh, 12 balls against England in 2007.
What is the fastest fifty in the IPL? 13 balls, shared by Yashasvi Jaiswal (2023) and Urvil Patel (2026).
What is the fastest domestic T20 fifty? Ashutosh Sharma’s 11 balls for Railways against Arunachal Pradesh in 2023.
More records: the fastest fifty in cricket history across all formats, most sixes in T20 internationals and most runs in T20 cricket.
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Featured Image: AFP/ Alexander Joe