Gavaskar walking out with Srikkanth at Chepuak
Records are meant to be re-written ! We grew up seeing Gavaskar moving to 21st century – scoring 21 tons – then stopping @ 34. Though India played its first Onedayer in 1974 – till 1983 – no Indian had scored a century, until KapilDev scripted a famous 175 not out against Zimbabwe, walking in at 17/5. From 171 of Glenn Turner – the highest in an ODI progressed – 175 – 189 – 194 – then came the 1st double hundred by Sachin Tendulkar and now 264 of Rohit Sharma.
Exceptional talent at School level is not entirely new. Sachin Tendulkar who climbed so many peaks, had the school record under his belt for long - an unbeaten 326; Vinod Kambli’s 349 and their 664 partnership in Feb 1988. 18 years later in Nov 2006 – that was broken when St. Peters High School made 721 without loss in 40 overs against St. Philip’s High School at Hyderabad. Openers Manoj Kumar and Mohammed Shaibaz, both 13, hit an unbeaten 320 and 324 respectively in the Hyderabad Cricket Association Inter-School Under-13 tournament. In 2011, another youngster came to limelight… it was Maharashtra’s middle order leftie – Vijay Hari Zol who was later signed up by RCB too. In an U19 match for Maharashtra, Zol scored an unbeaten 451 off 467 deliveries. Prithvi Shaw, a 14-year-old from Mumbai, smashed 546 runs – in a Harris Shield match at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai. S. Sankruth Sriram struck a brilliant unbeaten 486 in the Nilgiris District Cricket Association (NDCA) under-16 inter-school cricket tournament. Then there was the son of auto-rickshaw driver in Kalyan, PranavDhanawade of KC Gandhi English High School, overhauling Mumbaikar Prithvi Shaw's record but every other batting record in minor record. He went on to score a 1000.
In 1988, Graeme Hick hammered 405 at Taunton and Sport Star in its cover wrote Hick, Hick, Hick, Hick. – now comes the news that MohitAhlawat has scored a 300 ~ special for the triple century has come in a T20 match – off mere 72 balls includes 39 sixes and 14 fours !
Media reports are agog that an astonishing innings of 300 not out has propelled Mohit Ahlawat into cricket’s history books – and prompted the opening batsman to put his name forward for the lucrative Indian Premier League – by becoming the first player to score a triple century in a Twenty20 match. Appearing for his team, Maavi XI, in a Friends Premier League match at Delhi’s Lalita Park, Mohit creamed 39 sixes and 14 fours from just 72 balls to reach the remarkable milestone. Having reached 250 after 18 overs, the wicketkeeper-batsman finally decided to throw caution to the wind, and he added a further 50 runs off the final two overs, including 34 from the last six balls – and five consecutive sixes to finish.
He ended unbeaten on exactly 300 as Maavi posted a commanding total of 416-2 from their 20 overs. In the least surprising news of the day, the run chase proved too much for the opposition, Friends XI, who despite scoring a respectable 200 in their innings still fell short by 216 runs.
In 2007, Sri Lankan DhanukaPathirana scored 277 from 72 balls in a local Lancashire T20 league match. But in the top tier of the professional game, no player has hit even a double century.The current benchmark was set by Chris Gayle in a 2013 IPL match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Pune Warriors, but the West Indian’s 175 from 66 balls pales in comparison to Mohit’s recent efforts.
In a T20 International, the highest as of now is 156 by Aaron Finch, followed by Glen Maxwell 145*; Shane Watson 124*; 123 Brendon McCullum& 122 by Babbar Hayat of Hongkong against Oman.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
8th Feb 2017.
