Bihar's 22-year-old batter Sakibul Gani etched his name on the history books by breaking the record for the highest individual score by a cricketer on first-class debut. Becoming the first batter to score a triple hundred on first-class debut, Gani amassed 341 runs off just 405 balls with the help of 56 fours and 2 sixes in a Ranji Trophy Plate Group match against Mizoram at Jadavpur University Campus 2nd Ground in Kolkata on Friday. He maintained a strike rate of 84.20.
The previous highest on first-class debut also belonged to an Indian. Madhya Pradesh's Ajay Rohera held the record for more than three years. He had scored an unbeaten 267 against Hyderabad in Indore in December 2018. The third on the list is former Mumbai captain Amol Mazumdar. He had scored 260 on debut way back in the 1993-94 season.
Sakibul, who has a decent List A record with 377 runs in 14 matches, came in to bat at No.5 when Bihar were 71 for 3. He then forged a mammoth 538-run stand for the fourth wicket with Babul Kumar, who was unbeaten on 229 when Bihari decided to declare their first innings at 686 for 5.
On Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy on Thursday, Ajinkya Rahane scored a century for Mumbai in the match against Saurashtra.
Delhi batter Yash Dhull also registered a ton on his first-class debut against Tamil Nadu in Guwahati.
The Ranji Trophy would be held in two phases and now it has been confirmed that the pre-Indian Premier League (IPL) phase would run from February 10 to March 15. The post-IPL-phase would run from May 30 to June 26. The Ranji Trophy this season would see 64 matches being played across 62 days.
There are eight Elite Groups and one Plate Group. There would be four teams in Elite Groups and six teams would make up the Plate Group. One team from each Elite Group will qualify for the quarterfinal stages. The lowest-ranked of the eight qualified teams will have to play a pre-quarterfinal with the top team from the Plate Group.
(With ANI inputs)