Captain Amandeep Khare’s 116 powered Chhattisgarh to 327 as five Assam bowlers claimed two wickets apiece at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur.

Sourabh Majumdar (6-41) then shot out Assam for 159, and Khare enforced the follow on in the third morning. Assam were 78-2 when captain Riyan Parag walked out to join wicketkeeper Sumit Ghadigaonkar, and launched a furious onslaught.

Riyan Parag scores second-fastest Ranji Trophy hundred

Unbeaten on 82 overnight (day three), Parag went on to slam the second-fastest hundred in Ranji Trophy history, off 56 balls. Only Rishabh Pant (48 balls for Delhi against Jharkhand at Thumba, 2016/17) has done it quicker.

Among Indians, Yusuf Pathan needed 51 balls (for West Zone against Central Zone at Rajkot, 2007/08) and VB Chandrasekhar 56 (Tamil Nadu against Rest of India at Madras, 1988/89).

Note: There are claims of Shakti Singh having done it quicker (off 42 or 45 balls) for Himachal Pradesh against Haryana at Dharamsala 1990/91, but that was scored by teammates, not official scorers. Rajesh Borah’s 56-ball hundred for Assam against Tripura at Guwahati 1987/88 is also presumably an unofficial count.

Third-highest number of sixes by an Indian in a first-class innings

Riyan went on to make 155 in 87 balls with 11 fours and 12 sixes. Among Indians, only Shakti Singh (14 during the innings mentioned above – this count is confirmed), Ishan Kishan (14, Jharkhand against Delhi, Thumba 2016/17), Ravi Shastri (13, Bombay against Baroda, 1984/85), Pant (abovementioned innings), Sanjay Yadav (Meghalaya against Mizoram, Kolkata 2019/20), and Ankit Kaushik (Chandigarh against Mizoram, Chandigarh 2019/20) have hit more.

🔥 Second-fastest Ranji hundred
💯 His highest score in FC

Assam’s rescue man, Riyan Parag 💗 pic.twitter.com/RZ1sSxdgv5

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) January 8, 2024

One-man show

Riyan was ninth out, on 245 – in other words, he made his 155 out of 167 runs (92.8 percent) Assam made during his stay at the crease. Among first-class innings where fall of wickets are recorded, this is the highest percentage of runs scored by any batter for an innings of 150.

Riyan went past Imran Khan’s 89.7 percent (166 out of 185 for Worcestershire against Northamptonshire, Northampton 1976). Of batters with a percentage higher than Riyan’s, Freddie Brown (93.1 percent – 122 out of 131, Gentlemen against Players, Lord’s 1950) made the most runs.

This included three consecutive partnerships, over the course of which he made 69 in 40 balls, while his partners – No.8 Kunal Sharma, No.9 Mukhtar Hussain, No.10 Mrinmoy Dutta – faced 42 balls for a solitary run.

Earlier in the season at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Riyan had set a world record for most consecutive Twenty20 fifties.

Unfortunately, Riyan’s incredible onslaught could not influence the course of the match. Assam folded for 254, leaving Chhattisgarh only 87 to win. They were 52-0 at lunch on the final day.