Hyderabad opener Tanmay Agarwal rewrote several first-class records en route to his maiden triple century against Arunachal Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy Plate encounter on Friday (January 26).
The southpaw was at his breathtaking best as he smashed the fastest first-class triple hundred. He took just 147 balls to complete the triple ton, surpassing South African batter Marco Marais’ record, who slammed 300 off 191 balls for Border against East Province in 2017.
At the close of play on Day 1, Agarwal was unbeaten on 323 off 160 balls, including 33 fours and 21 sixes.
Speaking to TOI, Tanmay Agarwal reflected on his marathon knock and said: “It wasn’t a pre-planned innings as such. It was just another normal day for me and I went about playing the way I do in every inning. I had not set any targets for this season as I wanted to go out and bat well in every inning. That mindset has been very helpful this year. It has been working well for me.”
“It feels good to have your name on the top of the list and I thank God for giving me this opportunity. I am also thankful to my family and friends who have backed me all these years,” he added.
After reaching the three-figure mark, the 28-year-old put a pedal on the accelerator as he eyed the double century.
“Only the double century, one could say, was planned. The rest of the innings just happened. When I was batting on 140-odd, one of my teammates Tanay Thyagarajan said that I needed to score the remaining runs for a double century off 25 balls and why not go for it. That is when I decided to give it a shot and went after the bowlers,” he stated.
During his whirlwind knock, Agarwal broke Ravi Shastri’s record of hitting the fastest first-class double century by an Indian. His 200 came off 119 balls while Shastri had taken 123 balls to score 200 against Baroda in the 1984-85 season.
It is also the second fastest first-class double century ever. Pakistan's Shafiqullah Shinwari holds this record, having hit a double ton off just 89 balls for Kabul Region against Boost Region in 2017-18.
As if his previous feats were any less, Tanmay Agarwal scored his next 100 runs off just 28 balls. The left-hander is now the third highest individual scorer in an innings for Hyderabad, only behind MV Sridhar (366) and VVS Laxman (353).
When asked if he would look to break their records, Tanmay replied: “I will continue batting just like today and have no targets on my mind. We will also have to look at the team requirements and then play accordingly. Personally, I don’t look for records. I am more focused on helping the team win and get back to the Elite group.”
Tanmay’s 21 sixes in the innings is also a new record by an Indian batter in First-Class cricket as he went past Ishan Kishan’s 14 sixes in an innings.
“It is always nice to score runs for Hyderabad as it has given me the platform to showcase my talent. Playing for Hyderabad and scoring runs is always an honour – whether I am the captain or not. The goal this season was to get the team back to the Elite group as we have a very talented bunch of cricketers. We look forward to do greater things as a team in the Elite group next season,” he remarked.
On Day 2, Tanmay Agarwal had the chance to better West Indies legend Brian Lara’s highest individual first-class score of 501*. However, he perished way before the mark for 366 off 181 balls, including 34 fours and 26 sixes.
During his short stay in the middle on the second day, Agarwal added another record to his name. He now owns the record of hitting most sixes in a first-class innings, surpassing Colin Munro’s number of 23.
(With TOI Inputs)
