Hyderabad opener Tanmay Agarwal recently smashed the fastest triple century in first-class cricket in the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy clash against Arunachal Pradesh – here’s all you need to know about the sensational batter.
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Agarwal etched his name in cricket chronicles with a blazing triple ton off 147 deliveries, the fastest in a first-class match. He surpassed South Africa’s Marco Marais, who had achieved the feat in 191 balls during a game between Border and Western Province in 2017. Agarwal’s blitzkrieg ended on 366, with Hyderabad putting a mammoth 615-4 in the first innings. His knock was studded with 26 sixes, a first-class record. He bettered Colin Munro’s tally of 23 sixes for Auckland against Central Districts in 2015.
He levelled with Hyderabad’s M. V. Sridhar’s 366 against Andhra in the 1993-94 season to be the owner of the joint-fourth-highest Ranji Trophy individual score. Agarwal now only trails Maharashtra’s B. B. Nimbalkar (443* vs Saurashtra, 1948-49), Mumbai’s Prithvi Shaw (379 vs Assam, 2022-23), and Bombay’s Sanjay Manjrekar (377 vs Hyderabad, 1990-91).
Started with a bang
Tanmay Agarwal has been a part of the Hyderabad setup for almost a decade. He impressed on his List A debut in November 2014, scoring 136 off 123 deliveries against Karnataka in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
A month later, he played his maiden first-class match in a Ranji Trophy game against Goa and like his List A debut, he started splendidly. After being sent to bat, Agarwal starred with a patient 135 while opening the innings. His knock lasted 330 balls, setting a platform for Hyderabad to rack up 568-7.
After scoring two more tons and a fifty in his debut year, ending with 558 runs at 62, Agarwal has failed to maintain consistency, something which his career average hovering below 40 suggests.
In terms of sheer runs, the 2023-24 season has been Agarwal’s best in the Ranji Trophy. With 594 runs at an average of 148.5 in four matches, he has already beaten his previous best tally of 562 runs at 43.23 from last year. Playing his 56th first-class match, Agarwal has tallied up 3,899 runs in total. He has 12 tons to his name so far, alongside 11 fifties.
With 2,323 runs at 48.39, the List A format has been Agarwal’s strong suit. However, after the record-breaking performance, albeit against a weaker opposition in Arunachal Pradesh, he will hope to resurrect his red-ball ambitions.
