New Delhi: Ranji Trophy returns after a gap of two years this week and brought delight to the Indian cricket community. The premier first-class competition peaked up as the U-19 captain Yash Dhull scored a century on debut for Delhi while senior batter Ajinkya Rahane also secured a century for Mumbai against Saurashtra at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday.
However, who scripted history in the Ranji trophy was Bihar batter Sakibul Gani as he scored a triple century against Mizoram at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University Cricket Ground. Gani scored 341 runs from 4.5 deliveries including 56 fours and 2 sixes.
Reportedly, Gani became the first player to score a triple century on First-Class debut. The right-handed batter suppressed Ajay Rohera’s 267* debut for Madhya Pradesh in the 2018-2019 season.
See snippets from Gani’s match:
? RECORD ALERT ?
3⃣4⃣1⃣ Runs
4⃣0⃣5⃣ Balls
5⃣6⃣ Fours
2⃣ SixesSakibul Gani, playing for Bihar, created a world record as he became the 1⃣st batter to score a Triple Ton on First Class debut. ? ? #BIHvCAM #RanjiTrophy @Paytm
A snippet from that landmark knock ? ? pic.twitter.com/LXK7F0yA2N
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) February 18, 2022
Gani secured an amazing partnership with Babul Kumar, collaborative scoring 538 runs. Reportedly, this is the second-highest in Ranji Trophy for the fourth wicket, third-highest for the fourth wicket, and joint 11th highest in FC cricket.
Gani has been a brilliant consistent performer in age-group cricket, also became the highest run-getter for the Bihar U-23 team in the 2018-2019 season which included a 200-run score in a single day.
Following year, in the CK Nayudu Trophy and the U-23 One Day trophy, Gani again scored over 400 runs compiling both the competitions. Besides, last year, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy he had scored 114 and 94 runs against Mizoram and Meghalaya respectively. This time, the 22-year-old batter hit the headlines for his record-breaking score.
In an interview with News18, Amikar Dayal, a former India U-19 captain and one of the Bihar Cricket Association’s coaches, stated that he was not surprised by Gani’s marathon effort. “He is playing at this level for a while now and to notch up a big score like this in any format, against any team, you needs maturity and he must have played a mature innings, I am not surprised,” Dayal said.
“He is a gutsy player, and believes in concentration. He is one of those players who is equally gutsy as he is talented and when you have that combination your performance often surpasses players who probably are more talented than you. Yes, this big score came against relatively weaker team, but they are playing the Ranji Trophy and it is a Ranji Triple Hundred for Gani.”
