Five batsmen rack up double centuries in Ranji Trophy opening fixtures

Sanju Samson (211 off 337):

Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson, who has already taken the cricketing world by storm with his performances for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League and Champions League T20, scored his first double-century in Ranji Trophy against Assam. What makes his effort more special is that his 211 off 337 is the only three figure score in the two completed innings of the match.

Also, none of his team members managed to go past 50 runs as he single-handedly managed to give his team a lead of 39 runs in reply to the home team’s 323. With only one more day to go and Assam on 13/0, the match looks to be coasting towards a draw. Nevertheless, Kerala could have very well lost the match, if not for the monumental effort from the 18-year-old youngster, in which their opposition spinners Syed Mohammad and Arlen Konwar spun a web around Kerala batsmen picking up 8 wickets between them.

It is quite bewildering to know that he was not considered good enough to be a part of India’s World Cup winning Under-19 team under the captaincy of Unmukt Chand. Citing his failures in the Under-19 Asia Cup (14 runs in three innings) as the reason, Smit Patel was selected as the wicketkeeper-batsman ahead of Samson.