Jaipur: Gujarat’s 26-year-old opening batsman Samit Gohel Tuesday broke a 117-year-old record in first-class cricket by notching up the highest score while carrying his bat through the innings of 359 not out during his team’s Ranji Trophy quarter final against Odisha.
While Hanif Mohammed’s epic 499 remains the highest score by an opener in first-class cricket, no one has scored more than Gohel while remaining not out in his team’s score of 641 here.
Odisha were 81 for one at the end of match as Gujarat advanced to the semi-finals by virtue of having taken the first innings lead.
Gohel, in fact, eclipsed the previous best of 357 by Surrey’s Bobby Abel against Somerset way back in 1899 at the Kensington Oval ground.
Gohel’s 723-ball-knock had 45 boundaries and a six, but the shy boy from Gujarat's dairy hub Anand was very unassuming.
“I did not know it was a record. The idea was to bat as long as possible. Sir (coach Vijay Patel) and Parthivbhai (captain Parthiv Patel) ne bola thaa lamba khelo. I just tried to do that. I am happy that I could bat that long. Obviously, this is the greatest day of my life. I am not being able to express myself,” the right-handed batsman said.
His father Bhanubhai Patel is a real estate property dealer, but Gohel is happy to call himself a “professional cricketer” though he is looking for a government job.
“My father has a small-time property business… Not very big. Till date, I have only concentrated on cricket. But yes, I am searching for a government job. I have applied for a sports quota job in the Income Tax department as well as in a bank. Let’s see what happens,” said Gohel.
“I have not yet been able to call my family and inform them about the record,” said Gohel, who is the first triple centurion opener in last 81 years in first-class cricket to carry his bat through.
His teammate, Priyank Panchal, has been the top scorer in this season’s Ranji Trophy and Gohel said Panchal has been an inspiration for him. “Priyank’s performance and Parthivbhai’s show against England were inspirational for all of us. Also, I love to bat long. Even in the nets, I love to bat on and on. This lengthy duration at the nets also helped me in the middle. My childhood coaches Devang Desai and Hiren Patel always told me that temperament is key in first-class cricket,” he said.
“The innings may seem to be a tad slow, but the reason is Odisha in the end had put all fielders at the boundary circle. Getting boundaries became a difficult job,” Gohel explained.
His Ranji Trophy coach Vijay Patel is also proud of Gohel’s achievement.
“He is a defensive batsman as the stats will suggest. But he is now slowly increasing his repertoire of shots.
In the other quarter-final match, Mumbai defeated Hyderabad to make it to the semis.
Abhishek Nayar finished with figures of five for 40 as Mumbai carved out a 30-run win at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium.
Vijay Gohil, with his five-wicket haul on Monday, had taken Mumbai close to victory on the penultimate day itself as Hyderabad were already seven down.
Nayar then took the three wickets that Hyderabad had standing at the start of the fifth day to lead the defending champions to the last-four stage. Nayar finished with a match haul of nine for 100, a personal best in first-class cricket.
He had also scored a valuable 59 in the first innings, which took Mumbai to 294 from 139 for five.
The final day began with Hyderabad on 121 for seven in pursuit of 232. The overnight batsmen Balchander Anirudh and Chama Milind put up a gritty resistance and even entertained thoughts of victory with their 64-run stand for the eighth wicket.
Mumbai went through some anxious moments, considering the first 22 overs of the morning that went wicketless.
Hyderabad too felt optimistic considering Anirudh, their No. 3 batsman, was still in the middle, well past his half-century.
But then, Nayar did the star turn under pressure, much like he did in Mumbai’s season opener.
(Agencies)
