It was a day for the notebooks in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Bihar’s Sakibul Gani reached three figures in just 32 deliveries in Ranchi, the quickest List A hundred ever by an Indian. Barely half an hour later, in Ahmedabad, Jharkhand’s Ishan Kishan went to his own hundred in 33 balls, the second-fastest on the same chart. Earlier, Maharashtra youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi had rattled up a 36-ball century en route to 190 from 84, setting the tone for what became a festival of runs.
Put together, three of the four quickest List A centuries by Indian batters were logged on the same Wednesday, across two venues separated by more than 1500 kilometres. Only Australia’s Jake Fraser-McGurk and South Africa’s AB de Villiers have reached the landmark quicker in global List A history.
Gani’s burst came in a Plate-League fixture against Arunachal Pradesh. Walking in early, he peppered the short square boundaries to collect 20 fours and ten sixes, propelling Bihar to 574, their highest total in the competition. “When Sakibul gets on a roll he doesn’t think about milestones – that is why the scoring rate never drops,” Bihar coach Ajay Bihari told local media afterwards.
While that innings was still being discussed, Kishan strode out at No. 6 for Jharkhand with 12 overs left against Karnataka. From the outset he targeted the straight fence, finishing with 14 sixes and seven fours in a 39-ball 125. Jharkhand closed on 412 for 8.
The left-hander has enjoyed a prolific fortnight. Fresh from steering Jharkhand to the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title – and topping that tournament’s run list – he has also reclaimed a spot in India’s T20I squad for next month’s New Zealand series and the T20 World Cup.
“When I was not selected in the Indian team, I felt quite bad because I was doing well,” Kishan said last week after the Syed Mushtaq Ali final. “But I told myself that If I am not selected with this sort of performance, then maybe I have to do more. Maybe, I have to make my team win. Maybe we have to do well as a unit.”
Kishan ended the T20 season with 517 runs and a tournament-record 33 sixes. Wednesday’s innings suggests the switch to the 50-over format has not dulled his instincts.
Domestic watchers were quick to place the feats in context. Former national selector Devang Gandhi, speaking on Doordarshan’s highlights show, noted that “scores like these underline how fearless the current crop is – but they also remind bowlers that skills must keep pace.”
A record-laden opening day, then, and the tournament has only just begun.
