Saxena's innings 3rd longest in history of first-class cricket
Rajasthan opener Vineet Saxena's 257 against Tamil Nadu is the third longest innings in terms of minutes by any batsman in the history of first-class cricket.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: January 21, 2012 03:30 PM IST
Rajasthan opener Vineet Saxena's 257 against Tamil Nadu is the third longest innings in terms of minutes by any batsman in the history of first-class cricket.
Saxena has batted for an unbelievable 907 minutes (15 hours and seven minutes) and in the process is only behind former Himachal Pradesh captain Rajeev Nayyar who batted for 1015 minutes (16 hours 55 minutes) for his 271 against Jammu & Kashmir in a Ranji Trophy match at Chamba back in 1999-00.
Pakistan legend Hanif Mohammed is second in the list having batted 970 minutes scoring 337 against the West Indies at Bridgetown back in 1957-58.
Saxena has infact pipped former India coach Gary Kirsten whose 275 against England in Durban (1999-00) saw him stay 878 minutes (14 hours and 38 minutes) at the crease.
Some of the distinguished international names in the top-10 list are Len Hutton of England, Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka while Saxena's opening partner Aakash Chopra is seventh in the list.
Top 10 batsmen (According to duration)
Mts Batsman                  For    Vs.          Venue       Series
1015 Rajeev Nayyar (271)   HP    J & K       Chamb a    '99-00
970 Hanif Mohammad(337*) Pak.  WI          Bridgetown '57-58
*907 Vineet Saxena (257)    Raj   TN          Chennai    '11-12
878 Gary Kirsten (275)        SA    Eng.        Durban       '99-00
838 Stephen Cook (390)     Lions Warriors   E.London   '09-10
821 Shivakant Shukla(178*)  UP    TN          Nagpur      '08-09
812 Aakash Chopra (301*)    Raj.   Maharash. Nasik       '10-11
799 Sanath Jayasuriya(340)   SL     India       Colombo     '97-98
797 Len Hutton   (364)       Eng.  Australia  The Oval    '38-39
796 Shitanshu Kotak(168*)   Sau    Mumbai   Mumbai      '07-08