Tushar Deshpande created history in Ranji Trophy© X (formerly Twitter)
Mumbai fast bowler Tushar Deshpande, who plays for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL), created history on Tuesday when he hit a brilliant century at No. 11 during the Ranji Trophy match against Baroda. Deshpande eventually scored 123 off 129 balls – the highest score by an Indian No. 11 batsman in first-class cricket. The record previously belonged to Shute Banerjee, who scored 121 while batting at number 11 for India in a tour match against Surrey during the 1946 tour of England.
Several records were shattered on Tuesday as Tanush Kotian and Deshpande became the first No. 10 and No. 11 batsmen to score centuries in the history of the Ranji Trophy. Both batters looked in good touch as they eventually put on a whopping 232 runs for the last wicket in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final.
The partnership ended when Deshpande was dismissed, while Kotian remained unbeaten on 120 off 129 deliveries. From 337/9, the pair could take Mumbai to a mammoth total of 569.
While this was a first in the Ranji Trophy, Kotian and Deshpande were the second pair to achieve the feat in first-class cricket. In 1946, Chandu Sarwate and Shute Banerjee became the first No. 10 and No. 11 pairs to score centuries in a tour match for India against the English county of Surrey.
Overall, this was also the third time that an Indian batting pair could add 200 runs or more before the last wicket. Sarwate and Banerjee added 249 runs while the duo of Ajay Sharma and Maninder Singh added 233 runs for the last wicket against Bombay in the semi-final of the 1991-92 Ranji Trophy.
Topics mentioned in this article