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Triple centurion Mayank Agarwal speaks on his hero Virender Sehwag and learning from Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and revealed the advice he received from MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Steve Smith.

By : Aprameya C November 4, 2017 16:39 IST

 

Mayank Agarwal

It is always disappointing to get out for a duck in cricket. But it is a horrible feeling if it is repeated in the same match, resulting in a pair. This happened to Karnataka’s Mayank Agarwal last month against Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy.

 

But how did he respond to this huge setback? With a monumental innings.

 

The 26-year-old opener entered history books with his maiden triple hundred (304 not out) in next knock after two successive zeroes. What an incredible comeback this was.

 

Mayank is only the 43rd batsman in Ranji Trophy history to have crossed the coveted 300-run mark. In this season of the premier domestic tournament, he is the third in the club after Prashant Chopra (Himachal Pradesh) and Hanuma Vihari (Andhra).

 

“It is a very good feeling to have got a triple hundred. I got a pair in the last game and to have got something like this, I am extremely happy,” Mayank told International Business Times, India in an exclusive interview today (November 4).

 

The right-hander from Bengaluru batted for over 12 hours against Maharashtra at Pune’s MCA Stadium to reach a memorable 304 not out (494 balls, 28×4, 4×6) on Friday (November 3).

 

Thanks to his mammoth effort, Karnataka posted 628/5 declared and today won by an innings and 136 runs to complete hat-trick of wins.

 

When asked whether he was thinking of a triple ton, Mayank, often branded as limited-overs specialist, said he was focused on the “process” than any milestone.

 

“Coming into this game I just wanted to give my best. I was focused on the process. I never thought I would get (300),” he admitted.

 

He continued, “To be honest, till 250 I never thought about it (triple ton). After I crossed 250 I thought I can get there but reminded myself that I should keep doing what I was doing. I said to myself whatever has to come will come. I never focused on triple ton.”

 

Since the start of his cricket career, Mayank has idolised Virender Sehwag. Now, he has emulated his hero by hitting a triple ton. Sehwag did it twice, in Test cricket. He is the only Indian to have scored two triple hundreds (309 and 319).

 

Mayank might have modelled his batting on Sehwag but the youngster said the “Nawab of Najafgarh” is “very unique” and nobody can match his batting.

 

“To be honest there is only one Virender Sehwag. He is very unique and a great character. I have idolised him. I have always looked up to him. I really enjoyed the way he played the game. I have been fortunate enough to meet him and interact with him a couple of times. He told me to enjoy the game,” he spoke of his idol.

 

The Karnataka opening batsman said he was “fortunate” to have played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) which helped him pick the brains of several top international cricketers including MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Steve Smith.

 

“IPL is a great platform for any young cricketer. I was fortunate to have played IPL at the age of 19. It was a great experience for me to play among all international cricketers. You get to know where you stand. Experience was overwhelming.

 

“They (Dhoni, Yuvraj, Smith and others) always backed me. They always said to focus on the process and don’t think too much on the results and keep working hard. They told me to give importance to every game be it practice, state-level or any other match. They told me to enjoy every innings,” he elaborated on IPL experience.

 

Mayank was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Delhi Daredevils (DD) and recently Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS).

 

Being a part of India ‘A’ meant Mayank could learn from former captain and batting legend Rahul Dravid, who is the team’s coach.

 

Talking about the advice he got from Dravid, he said, “Obviously he (Dravid) is one of the greatest batsmen India ever had. His experience helped me. His advice to me was ‘playing according to the situation’.”

 

Expectations could rise in the coming days after a triple ton but Mayank is unfazed by them. He wants to control what he can and leave the rest.

 

“Those (expectations) are the things which you can’t control. I don’t want to focus on things which I can’t control. What I can do is focus on things which have got me to this stage and continue the same,” he signed off.

 

(Mayank Agarwal is the third Karnataka batsman after KL Rahul and Karun Nair to hit a triple ton in Ranji Trophy. So far he has played 32 first-class, 46 List A (50 overs) and 91 Twenty20s. He made his first-class debut in 2013, against Jharkhand in Mysore. He has played for India Under-19, India ‘A’ and three teams in IPL. He also played in ICC Under-19 World Cup 2010 in New Zealand).

 

Today is 04.11.2017. Exactly 83 years ago, on 04.11.1934, the first ever Ranji Trophy match was played and  it was completed  in a day. 

Sri C Keshavamurthy, Champion Statistician on Indian Domestic Cricket, has penned a special article for the then crickick.com netizens on the first ever Ranji Trophy match between Madras and Mysore which was played on 04.11.34. This match was completed on a single day. Read on CKM’s thoughts on this historic match

Madras (now Chennai) is not new to cricket. It is learnt that cricket was played here as early as 1855 on military grounds as a sort of recreation of the soldiers. Matches were played by the Cricket Clubs as early as 1932/33 and 1933/34 for the Raja of Palayampatti Shield and Bishop Waller Shields. Even test cricket had its birth in India way back in 1933/34 and Madras had staged a test at Chepauk ground from 10th to 13th Februry 1934. As time took its toll, Madras had the distinction of becoming the first centre to boast of India’s inaugural victory in 25 tests over a span of 20 years when it beat England at the Chepauk ground on 10th February 1952. It has also the rare privilege of hosting a tied test match (only the 2nd instance in the history of test cricket) between India and Australia in September 1986.

The idea of having a Premier National championship – the Ranji Trophy (named after KS Ranjitsinhji, popularly known throughout the cricket world as the great Ranji) was mooted in the summer of 1934 when the BCCI at its meeting at Simla decided to conduct a cricket tournament on an yearly basis to keep cricket at the highest level on the lines of County matches in England and Sheffield Shield matches in Australia. And when the question of selecting the first ever venue for the National Championship came up, Madras was chosen and what better place could there have been for the inaugural match of the prestigious tournament than Madras which had earlier hosted a test match. Madras has the prevelege of hosting the first ever Duleep Trophy match too in 1961-62

On November 3, 1934 – Madras city had witnessed heavy rain and many in cricket circles thought it may well interfere the inaugural match of the tournament. Some others – perhaps those who were curious to peep in and have a look at the match presumed that rain was a good augury for the first ever match in Ranji Trophy. And so it proved to be as the historic match took place on November 4, 1934 without any hurdles.

The inaugural match itself proved to be a great hit in that it was played between the traditional rivals – Madras (now Tamilnadu) and Mysore (now Karnataka) – just as the Ashes series is played between England and Australia. Since it was the first ever match in Ranji Trophy and perhaps nobody had visualized that this tournament would be a huge success in the coming years, not much importance was given to statistics – which has acquired a major role now. Fall of wickets do not indicate the name of the outgoing batsmen. The cricketing fraternity should be thankful to Sri SK Gurunathan for recording this match in his “Twelve Years of Ranji Trophy”. Sri SK Gurunathan was the first Honorary Official Statistician of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Despite the overnight rain and the faint morning drizzle on the opening day which resulted for a late start in the match, the two teams were keen to play and enthusiasm was writ large on the faces of the players. It was quite natural because this was the first big game to have come their way and everyone was keen to perform. When play commenced on November 4, 1934 at 11.00 am, two Englishmen, CP Johnstone (Madras) and Major MS Teversham (Mysore) captained the rival teams. Johnstone, left hand opening batsman and an excellent slip fielder, won the first toss in the championship and invited Mysore to bat. The same could not have been said of the Mysore Captain as he had not played cricket with the Mysoreans earlier. In fact, Mysore had lacked match practice.

Mysore batsmen were clueless on the wet wicket and it was no surprise that it was in deep trouble at the beginning itself when its openers N Curtis and P McCosh went in to bat. Morapakkam Joysam Gopalan – the Madras fast medium bowler and the lone test cricketer from among the two teams (he had made his debut for India against England at Calcutta in January 1934; he had also the distinction of playing Hockey at international level – he was selected in the Indian Team for Berlin Olympics) entered the record books as the first bowler to deliver the first ball in the history of the premier tournament to N Curtis who took the first strike. Although Gopalan bowled the first over (and could not capture a wicket in the first innings), the havoc was done by AG Ram Singh, the left arm spinner (his two sons AG Kripal Singh and AG Milkha Singh represented India), who partnered Gopalan at the other end. Mysore players with no exceptions had virtually no answer to the guile of Ram Singh who fully exploited the rain affected pitch. Coupled with his Captain CP Johnstone (a Burmah Shell Executive and who played for Kent in Eng), both sliced through the Mysore batting line up. Curtis top scored the innings with 15 while the only other player to reach double figures was Renshaw Nailer (he had earned a name as a powerful hitter in the Presidency matches in Madras), who made 14. Five players were dismissed for ducks. The only notable partnership of a meagre 24 runs came between Curtis and Nailer for the 4th wicket. MS Teversham – the Mysore skipper (a major in the Army) achieved the rare distinction of becoming the first Captain in the championship to be dismissed for a duck. Wreckers in chief – Ramsingh took 6/19 in 13.2 overs (the first five wicket haul in the national championship) and Johnstone bowling off-cutters, had figures of 4/10 in 6 overs. Mysore players whose batting performance gave a feeling as though they were afraid of the devil in the pitch, eventually were responsible for their team to be dismissed for a paltry 48 – the first double digit score in the history of the national championship. SVT Chari kept wickets brilliantly for Madras and effected 4 stumpings, while C Ramaswamy held 5 catches in the match.

Madras, although rejoiced at keeping the opposition at bay, too did not fare better but the home team batsmen were not as timid as those of the opposition and could muster 130 in 43 overs, for a lead of 82 runs – a shade better than the performance of the visitors. The restricted total of Madras was mainly due to the devastating spell of 6/23 in 8 overs by MG Vijayasarathy who bowled medium off breaks. (he later rose to the level of an international umpire and who was also the first player treasurer of the Mysore State Cricket Association (now KSCA). he also served as its Vice President and President.) and excellent bowling (3/29) by Safi Darashah (who later took to broadcasting as a commentator). Cotah Ramaswami (who also represented India in the Davis Cup in 1922), top scoed with 26 for Madras. NN Swarna (22) and MJ Gopalan (23) were the other leading scorers for Madras. Many felt that if Vijayasarathy had opened the bowling with Nagaraja Rao, the home team could have been dismissed for a lesser score as Vijayasarathy coming as a third change bowler caused the lower order collapse – all the dismissals, being in a row. .

When Mysore switched to batting for a second time, everyone thought it would put up a decent performance. However, this was not to be as once again wickets fell at regular intervals. Mysore batsmen refused to learn from the first innings debacle and paid a heavy price for the inept batting performance for the second time in the match. Ram Singh was in his elements again demolishing the Mysore innings with his tantalizing spinners and accounting for another five wicket haul (5/16in 14.3 overs). With this he scripted his name into the record books as the first player to take 10 or more wickets in a match. Gopalan with 3/20 and Johnstone with 2/10 ably assisted him. T Murari (one of the founders of the MSCA) and Teversham with 11 runs each were the joint top scorers as batsmen for the visitors. Darashah was the only other player to reach the double figure (10). The irony was that Mr Extras top scored for the innings with 13. Mysore, in the end, folded up for a niggardly 59. BR Nagaraja Rao – a fast bowler of repute, also went into the record books as the first player to be dismissed for a ‘pair’ (duck in each innings).

Madras thus emerged victors by an innings and 23 runs. The inaugural match was over in a single day – a record that still stands today as till date no other match in the national championship has been completed in a single day. The whole match lasted for a total of 100.5 overs. Bowlers had a sway in the entire match and this match is still known as Ram Singh’s match for his magnificent bowling performance of 11/35 (6/19 and 5/16).

This match is also known for a humorous anecdote if you can call it like that. It is learnt that some of the supporters of the Mysore team who were excited to get a first hand knowledge of the inaugural day’s play, had gone to the Railway Station on the morning of the next day to purchase the news paper (in those days it is learnt that Bangalore did not have any reputed news paper and the news papers used to come from Madras by train) but were taken aback when they saw the team members alighting from the train, remarking that they would narrate the match event in detail instead of the news paper.

And what about those press people who covered this unforgettable match. The stalwarts N.S. Ramaswami, KN Prabhu and PN Sunderesan also find themselves in the record books as the famous trio of cricket writers to have witnessed and reported this historic match. The trio is no more as they have breathed their last.

PS: In case any readers/viewers to the site are having any other connected information or anecdotes relating to the above match, they are requested to post the comments at www.crickick.com so that an improved version of the article could be prepared. Views are most welcome.

The score card of the first Ranji Trophy match is reproduced below

Ranji Trophy, 1934/35 : Madras v Mysore : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai : 4 November 1934 (3-day match) : Result: Madras won by an innings and 23 runs : Toss: Madras : Captains : MS Teversham {Mysore} : CP Johnstone {Madras}

 

MS Dhoni became the 25^th batsman to face 1000 deliveries in T20Is. Prior to the start of the first T20I against New Zealand at Delhi on 01 Nov 2017 he had faced 999 deliveries. He faced two deliveries in this game and faced 1001 deliveries at the end of the game. The following table lists all the 25 batsmen

No	Player	Team	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	100	50	0	4s	6s
1	BB McCullum	NZl	71	70	10	2140	123	35.66	1571	2	13	3	199	91
2	TM Dilshan	Srl	80	79	12	1889	104*	28.19	1567	1	13	10	223	33
3	Shoaib Malik	Pak	92	86	24	1821	75	29.37	1548	0	6	1	152	43
4	Mohammad Hafeez	Pak	81	78	5	1658	86	22.71	1457	0	9	5	178	39
5	MJ Guptill	NZl	62	60	7	1810	101*	34.15	1382	1	10	2	170	76
6	Umar Akmal	Pak	82	77	14	1690	94	26.82	1375	0	8	8	122	55
7	JP Duminy	RSA	73	67	21	1700	96*	36.95	1372	0	9	6	124	59
8	V Kohli	Ind	53	49	14	1878	90*	53.65	1371	0	17	1	199	38
9	Mohammad Shahzad	Afg	58	58	3	1779	118*	32.34	1300	1	12	3	200	66
10	MN Samuels	Win	60	58	10	1469	89*	30.60	1275	0	10	0	133	60
11	AB de Villiers	RSA	78	75	11	1672	79*	26.12	1237	0	10	5	140	60
12	DA Warner	Aus	65	65	3	1696	90*	27.35	1218	0	12	5	164	74
13	EJG Morgan	Eng	70	68	13	1576	85*	28.65	1208	0	8	3	118	69
14	H Masakadza	Zim	50	50	2	1413	93*	29.43	1180	0	10	0	131	51
15	Ahmed Shehzad	Pak	53	53	2	1353	111*	26.52	1171	1	7	2	145	29
16	KC Sangakkara	Srl	56	53	9	1382	78	31.40	1156	0	8	2	139	20
17	RG Sharma	Ind	66	59	12	1472	106	31.31	1128	1	12	3	130	56
18	DPMD Jayawardene	Srl	55	55	8	1493	100	31.76	1121	1	9	4	173	33
19	Tamim Iqbal	Ban	59	59	5	1257	103*	23.27	1091	1	4	4	139	29
20	CH Gayle	Win	52	49	4	1577	117	35.04	1085	2	13	2	134	103
21	LRPL Taylor	NZl	73	65	13	1256	63	24.15	1046	0	5	4	83	48
22	AD Hales	Eng	48	48	6	1383	116*	32.92	1022	1	7	4	148	42
23	Shakib Al Hasan	Ban	61	61	8	1223	84	23.07	1009	0	6	4	121	27
24	SR Watson	Aus	58	56	6	1462	124*	29.24	1006	1	10	3	115	83
25	MS Dhoni	Ind	81	70	35	1232	56	35.20	1001	0	1	1	84	37

MS Dhoni became the third Indian batsman to face 1000 deliveries in T20Is. Prior to the start of the first T20I against New Zealand at Delhi on 01 Nov 2017 he had faced 999 deliveries. He faced two deliveries in this game and faced 1001 deliveries at the end of the game. Others are V Kohli (1371} and RG Sharma {1128} The following table lists all the three batsmen

No	Player	Team	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	100	50	0	4s	6s
1	V Kohli	Ind	53	49	14	1878	90*	53.65	1371	0	17	1	199	38
2	RG Sharma	Ind	66	59	12	1472	106	31.31	1128	1	12	3	130	56
3	MS Dhoni	Ind	81	70	35	1232	56	35.20	1001	0	1	1	84	37