Domestic Champion Statistician C Keshava Murthy pens an article on Agarwal’s heroics in Ranji Trophy Matches in 2017 exclusively for the netizens of hrgcricstats.com. Read on ……………

MA Agarwal has been phenomenal with his batting in this season. He has scored centuries against Maharashtra at Pune, against Delhi at Bangalore, against UP at Kanpur and against Railways at Delhi. – He has accounted for many memorable feats and achieved a couple of milestone this season which are enumerated below.

Born on 16^th February 1991 at Bangalore  Agarwal (full name – Mayank Anurag Agarwal), made his presence felt in his debut match itself 4 years ago in Ranji Trophy by scoring 90 against Jharkhand at Mysore in 2013-14. He made 380 runs in 8 matches at 34.54 in that season. He had a lean season in 2014-15 (121 in 4 matches at 20.16 with a lone half century) followed by a somewhat better performance in 2015-16 (417 runs in 5 matches at 52.12 with his maiden century and 3 half centuries) but again went into oblivion with a poor performance in 2016-17 (284 runs in 7 matches at 23.66 with 3 half centuries).

Rumours were floating whether he would retain his place this season, and he had a sigh of relief when he found his normal place in the playing eleven. Things were not all that rosy for him  in the first  two matches of the season. He was dismissed for 31 against Assam in the  first match and collected a pair in the next match against Hyderabad at Shimoga He was selected for the next match against Maharashtra at Pune despite the failure in the first two matches. He made his presence felt in this game by scoring a triple century – 304 not out.  The following are  some of the statistical accreditations of MA Agarwal’s 304 not out. 

He became the third Karnataka batsman to score a triple century after KL Rahul and KK Nair.

No	Player	Opposition	Score	Venue	Season
1	KL Rahul	Uttar Pradesh	337	Bangalore	2014-15
2	KK Nair	Tamilnadu	328	Mumbai	2014-15
3	MA Agarwal	Maharashta	304*	Pune	2017-18

MA Agarwal’s 304 not out represent the highest score  by a Karnataka batsman against Maharashtra and  he became the first  Karnataka batsman to score a triple century against  Maharashtra. The previous best was 264* by CM Gautam at Pune in 2012-13.

MA Agarwal’s 304 not out represent the 43^rd occasion of a batsman scoring 300 plus runs in an innings in the history of Ranji Trophy. He also became the third batsman to score a triple hundred in the ongoing season 2017-18

No	Player	Runs	Opposition	Venue	Ground
1	P Chopra	338	Him Pradesh	Punjab	Dharmasala
2	GH Vihari	302*	Andhra	Orissa	Vizianagaram
3	MA Agarwal	303*	Karnataks	Maharashtra	Pune

The following table lists the triple hundreds scored by batsmen against Maharashtra. MA Agarwal became the fifth batsman to accomplish the feat and his knock represents the third highest score.

No	Player	Runs	Team	Opposition	Venue	Season
1	VM Merchant	359*	Mumbai	Maharashtra	Mumbai	1943-44
2	RR Panth	308	Delhi	Maharashtra	Mumbai	2016-17
3	MA Agarwal	304*	Karnataka	Maharashtra	Pune	2017-18
4	AS Chopra	301	Rajasthan	Maharashtra	Nasik	2010-11
5	A Mukund	300*	Tamilnadu	Maharashtra	Nasik	2008-09

MA Agarwal became the 33^rd player From Karnataka to achieve the feat of scoring 2000 or more runs in the Ranji Trophy – He accomplished the feat of scoring 2000 runs  when he was on 41 in his first innings knock of 173 against Railways at Delhi in his 30^th match and 50^th innings. At the  end of this match, his run aggregate read 2266. The complete list of the players who have completed 2000 or more runs in Ranji Trophy for Karnataka is furnished below

No	Runs	Player	Mat
1	7126	BP Patel	104
2	6845	RV Uthappa	098
3	5655	GR Vishwanath	093
4	4874	R Dravid	048
5	4699	MK Pandey	066
6	4679	J Arunkumar	072
7	4288	Vijay Bharadwaj	067
8	4179	SMH Kirmani	097
9	4173	RMH Binny	068
10	4116	SB Joshi	117
11	4027	VS Thilak Naidu	081
12	3907	CM Gautam	079
13	3893	RL Barrington	059
14	3824	KA Jeshwanth	066
15	3759	CS Saldanha	060
16	3731	STR Binny	069
17	3453	S Somasundar	068
18	3418	AV Jayaprakash	070
19	3907	R Sudhakar Rao	067
20	2913	KL Rahul	029
21	2816	MR Srinivasprasad	047
22	2622	KB Pawan	043
23	2549	R Samarth	033
24	2468	KK Nair	032
25	2432	VS Thilak Naidu	044
26	2361	Ganesh Satish	039
27	2300	PV Shashikanth	049
28	2266	MA Agarwal	030
29	2251	V Subramanya	044
30	2191	B Vijayakrishna	074
31	2188	AA Verma	036
32	2081	R Vinay Kumar	097
33	2071	S Vishwanath	045

MA Agarwal achieved another milestone during his second innings knock of 134 against Railways at Delhi. He completed 1000 runs in 2017-18 season when he was on 70. At the end of this game his run aggregate read 1064. He is  the only batsman  to accomplish the feat this season. He became the third Karnataka batsman to aggregate 1000 plus runs in a Ranji Trophy season. Others are Vijay Bharadwaj and KL Rahul

No	Runs	Player	Mat	Season
1	1280	Vijay Bharadwaj	10	1998-99
2	1064	MA Agarwal	06	2017-18
3	1033	KL Rahul	10	2013-14

MA Agarwal became the 18^th player to aggregate 1000 plus runs in a season in the history of Ranji Trophy.  The following table lists all the eighteen batsmen

No	Runs	Mts	Player	Team	HS	Season	100-50
1	1415	09	VVS Laxman	Hyderabad	353	1999-00	8-0
2	1321	10	SS Iyer	Mumbai	200	2015-16	4-7
3	1310	10	PK Panchal	Gujarat	314*	2016-17	5-4
4	1280	10	Vijay Bharadwaj	Karnataka	200*	1998-99	4-7
5	1260	10	W Jaffer	Mumbai	301	2008-09	4-5
6	1223	11	KM Jadhav	Maharashtra	204	2013-14	6-2
7	1089	10	AM Rahane	Mumbai	201	2008-09	4-5
8	1075	08	S Sriram	Tamilnadu	288	1999-00	5-1
9	1066	07	DS Jadhav	Maharashtra	251	2003-04	4-3
10	1064	06	MA Agarwal	Karnataka	304*	2017-18	5-1
11	1037	08	JJ Martin	Baroda	242	1998-99	5-2
12	1034	10	R Lamba	Delhi	250	1996-97	3-4
13	1034	10	RD Bist	Rajasthan	176	2011-12	4-4
14	1033	08	AK Sharma	Delhi	220*	1996-97	5-3
15	1033	10	KL Rahul	Karnataka	158	2013-14	3-4
16	1018	07	WV Raman	Tamilnadu	313	1988-89	3-1
17	1008	05	RS Modi	Mumbai	245*	1944-45	5-1
18	1004	11	HH Khadiwale	Maharashtra	262	2013-14	3-4

MA Agarwal scored centuries in both innings – 173* and 134 against Railways at Delhi. He became the  second Karnataka batsman to accomplish the feat of scoring  twin centuries in a match. Prior to MA Agarwal, Kunal Kapoor who had scored 106 and 100* against Haryana at Hubballi in 2012-13 Agarwal also became only the fifth batsman to score century in each innings against Railways in Ranji Trophy

No	Player	FI	SI	Team	Oppn	Venue	Season
1	S Madanlal	140	100	Delhi	Railways	Delhi	1980-81
2	Padam Shastri	159	101	Rajasthan	Railways	Kota	1984-85
3	Ajay Sharma	136	182	Delhi	Railways	Delhi	1995-96
4	Amay Khurasiya	105	118*	Mad Pradesh	Railways	Delhi	2000-01
5	Mayank Agarwal	173*	134	Karnataka	Railways	Delhi	2017-18

MA Agarwal became the first batsman in the history of Ranji Trophy to score five hundreds in four consecutive matches. His scores this season read thus

No	Opponent	FI	SI	Venue	Season
1	Maharashtra	304*		Pune	2017-18
2	Delhi	176	23	Bengaluru	2017-18
3	Uttar Pradesh	90	133*	Kanpur	2017-18
4	Railways	173*	134	Delhi	2017-18

MA Agarwal became the third batsman to score five centuries in consecutive matches in a season after RS Modi of Mumbai and AK Sharma of Delhi. It is noted with interest that all the three batsmen have scored at least one double century, while MA Agarwal is the only batsman to score a triple century. Modi and AK Sharma scored  five centuries in five consecutive matches, while MA Agarwal scored  five centuries in four consecutive matches.

RS Modi of Mumbai
No	Opponent	FI	SI	Season
1	Sind	160		1944-45
2	Western India	210		1944-45
3	Baroda	245*	031*	1944-45
4	N India	113		1944-45
5	Holkar	98	151	1944-45
AK Sharma of Delhi
No	Opponent	FI	SI	Season
1	Tamilnadu	128		1996-97
2	Railways	220*		1996-97
3	Baroda	118	010	1996-97
4	Maharashtra	144		1996-97
5	Mumbai	176		1996-97
	MA Agarwal
No	Opponent	FI	SI	Season
1	Maharashtra	304*		2017-18
2	Delhi	176	23	2017-18
3	Uttar Pradesh	90	133*	2017-18
4	Railways	173*	134	2017-18

MA Agarwal has scored five centuries in four consecutive matches and is the only Karnataka batsman to accomplish the feat. The following table lists the Karnataka batsmen who have scored three centuries in three consecutive  matches

No	Players	Season	Cs	Runs	Oppn	Runs	Oppn	Runs	Oppn
1	BP Patel	1977-78 –  1978/79	03	100	UP	100	Kerala	126	And
2	RMH Binny	1982/83 –  1983-84	03	115 + 045	Bom	101*+ 19	Kerala	14 + 108*
3	R Dravid	1990/91 – 1991/92	03	134	Ben	126	Goa	128	Ker
4	R Dravid	1997/98 – 1999/00	03	215	UP	210	Hyd	71 + 149	Raj
5	KK Nair	2013-14	03	105 + 008	Del	100 + 25	UP	151*	Pun
6	RV Uthappa	2015-16	03	011 + 160	Raj	148	Ori	148	Del

MA Agarwal became the fourth Karnataka player to score a century against Railways in Ranji Trophy and his twin centuries provide the sixth occasion of a Karnataka batsman scoring a century against Railways. All such occasions are tabulated below

No	Player	Runs	Venue	Season
1	Vijay Bharadwaj	164	Bangalore	1997-98
2	RL Barrington	100*	Delhi	2000-01
3	RV Uthappa	131	Bangalore	2008-09
4	RV Uthappa	117	Delhi	2011-12
5	MA Agarwal	173 & 104*	Delhi	2017-18

MA Agarwal was also involved in three three figure partnerships for the first wicket with R Samarth to provide the first occasion of  the same pair posting three three figure partnership for the first wicket in the same season.

No	Partners	Runs	Wkt	Opposition	Venue	Season
1	MA Agarwal, R Samarth	259	1st	Maharashtra	Pune	2017-18
2	MA Agarwal, R Samarth	262*	1st	Uttar Pradesh	Kanpur	2017-18
3	MA Agarwal, R Samarth	117	1st	Railwaya	Delhi	2017-18

Apart from the three three figure partnerships mentioned above, Agarwal also figures in four other three figure listed below. Thus he has figured in seven three figure partnerships in this season

No	Partners	Runs	Wkt	Opposition	Venue	Season
1	MA Agarwal, R Samarth	259	1st	Maharashtra	Pune	2017-18
2	MA Agarwal, R Samarth	262*	1st	Uttar Pradesh	Kanpur	2017-18
3	MA Agarwal, R Samarth	117	1st	Railways	Delhi	2017-18
4	MA Agarwal, R Samarth	112	2nd	Delhi	Bangalore	2017-18
5	MA Agarwal, KK Nair	279	3rd	Maharashtra	Pune	2017-18
6	MA Agarwal, MK Pandey	136	4th	Delhi	Bangalore	2017-18
7	MA Agarwal, MK Pandey	229	4th	Railways	Delhi	2017-19

MA Agarwal has figured in four double century partnerships out of five 200 plus partnerships posted by Karnataka batsman in a single season. He has equaled the record of Vijay Bharadwaj who has also been involved in four double century partnerships out of six double century partnerships recorded in 1998-99 season.

The following table lists the 200 plus runs partnerships posted by Karnataka batsmen in 2017-18

No	Partners	Runs	Wkt	Opposition	Venue	Season
1	D Nischal, MK Pandey	354	4th	Uttar Pradesh	Kanpur	2017-19
2	MA Agarwal, KK Nair	279	3rd	Maharashtra	Pune	2017-18
3	MA Agarwal, R Samarth	262*	1st	Uttar Pradesh	Kanpur	2017-18
4	MA Agarwal, R Samarth	259	1st	Maharashtra	Pune	2017-18
5	MA Agarwal, MK Pandey	229	4th	Railways	Delhi	2017-19

 {All Stats as at the end of the gaem between  Karnataka and Railways at Delhi 28.11.2017}