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Himanshu Rana becomes seventh youngest Indian to score a century in First-Class Cricket

Dhruv Pandove is the youngest Indian to score a First-Class century.

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Himanshu Rana scored 149 for Haryana in the first innings against Rajasthan at Lahli ○ Getty Images (Representational Image)
Himanshu Rana scored 149 for Haryana in the first innings against Rajasthan at Lahli ○ Getty Images (Representational Image)

Playing for Haryana in Ranji Trophy 2014-15, Himanshu Rana  scored his maiden First-Class century at an age of 16 years and 120 days. Bharath Seervi lists the youngest Indians to score centuries and double centuries in First-Class cricket.

Himanshu Rana made his First-Class debut at 16 years 95 days for Haryana in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season of 2014-15. He had a good start to his career, scoring 80 runs in his innings (where the next highest score was just 24). In his third match, he has scored his maiden first class century.

Rana scored 149 for Haryana in the first innings against Rajasthan at Lahli. He came to the crease when his team was struggling at 29 for three. He took his team to a good position before being fell one short of 150. At 16 years and 120 days he became the seventh-youngest Indian to score a First-Class hundred.

The youngest Indian to score a First-Class century in cricket was Dhruv Pandove at 14 years 293 days for Punjab against Jammu & Kashmir at Srinagar in 1988-89. He was also the fifth-youngest player in the history of First-Class cricket to score a century. Below is the list of youngest Indians to score their maiden first class century.

Youngest Indians to score century in First Class Cricket (top 10)

Age Batsman Runs For Against Venue Season
14y 293d Dhruv Pandove 137 Punjab Jammu and Kashmir Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar 1988-89
15y 230d Sachin Tendulkar # 100* Bombay Gujarat Wankhede Stadium, Bombay 1988-89
15y 308d Abbas Ali Baig 105 Hyderabad Mysore Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad 1954-55
16y 48d Mohinder Pandove 100* Southern Punjab Northern Punjab Gandhi Stadium, Jullundur 1961-62
16y 78d Alind Naidu # 118* Vidarbha Uttar Pradesh Modi Stadium, Kanpur 1999-00
16y 88d Ramesh Saxena # 113* Delhi Southern Punjab Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi 1960-61
16y 120d Himanshu Rana 149 Haryana Rajasthan Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Lahli 2014-15
16y 131d Biswa Mohapatra # 109 Orissa Assam Barabati Stadium, Cuttack 1997-98
16y 259d Gogumal Kishenchand 131* Sind Bombay Brabourne Stadium, Bombay 1941-42
16y 342d Ankit Bawne 136 Maharashtra Karnataka Pune Club Ground, Pune 2009-10

 

# – on debut

Sachin Tendulkar scored another century at age of 16 years 193 days in 1989-90. In fact, he scored nine First-Class centuries before 19 (a joint record for any player). He is equalled by Mushtaq Mohammad, Hasan Raza, Ijaz Ahmed and Shahid Anwar. Among Indians, Ambati Rayudu and Abhinav Mukund scored seven First-Class centuries before the age of 19.

Abbas Ali Baig held the Indian record for over 30 years when he scored his maiden First-Class century at 15 years 308 days in 1954-55. Both Pandove and Tendulkar beat him in 1988-89 but Pandove did it on October 28th and Tendulkar on December 11th.

The other Indian to score their maiden first class century before 17 is Sunny Singh at age of 16 years 364 days. Ankit Bawne and Tendulkar are the only Indians to score two centuries before 17.

Rana has already scored an 80 and a 149. If he scores a double ton in this season or in the next, where will he be standing among youngest Indians to score a double century in first class cricket?

The youngest Indian to score a First-Class double ton is Reetinder Sodhi at age of 17 years and 15 days. Rana is presently 16 years 120 days. Hence, if he scores a double century in the next 260 days, he will become the youngest Indian to score 200 in first class cricket. He also has a chance of becoming the first Indian to score a First-Class 200 before he turns 17.

The table below lists the top ten youngest Indians to score a double century in first class cricket.

Youngest Indians to score double century in First Class Cricket (top 10)

Age Batsman Runs Match Match Venue Season
17y 15d Reetinder Sodhi 200* Punjab Delhi Dhruv Pandove Stadium, Patiala 1997-98
17y 55d Ambati Rayudu 210 Hyderabad Andhra Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad 2002-03
18y 61d Pinal Shah 217* Baroda Services Palam A Ground, Model Sports Complex, Delhi 2005-06
18y 262d Wasim Jaffer 314* Mumbai Saurashtra Municipal Stadium, Rajkot 1996-97
18y 272d Gundappa Viswanath 230 Mysore Andhra Police Parade Ground, Vijayawada 1967-68
18y 302d Abhinav Mukund 300* Tamil Nadu Maharashtra Hutatma Anant Kanhere Maidan, Golf Club Ground, Nasik 2008-09
18y 332d Gogumal Kishenchand 204 CK Nayudu’s XI DB Deodhar’s XI Maharaja Pratapsingh Coronation Gymkhana Ground, Baroda 1943-44
18y 338d Vijay Zol 200* Maharashtra Tripura Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Gahunje 2013-14
18y 350d Sanju Samson 211 Kerala Assam Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati 2013-14
19y 87d Baba Aparajith 212 South Zone West Zone MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai 2013-14

 

Vijay Zol, Sanju Samson and Baba Aparajith all scored their maiden double-centuries in the previous season, 2013-14. In fact, Zol and Samson reached their maiden first class 200s on the same day — October 29, 2013.

Mukund, Rusi Modi and Vinod Kambli scored three 200s in First-Class cricket before their 21st birthday. It is the overall record, a feat shared by Hasan Raza, Imran Farhat and Graeme Hick.

Wasim Jaffer is the youngest Indian to score a First-Class triple-hundred cricket followed by Mukund. The youngest overall record belongs to Javed Miandad (17 years and 310 days). Jaffer and Mukund are second and third in the list respectively.
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Let us have a look at the youngest Indians to make their First-Class debut.

Youngest Indians to make debut in First Class cricket    

Age Player For Against Venue Season
12y 73d Alimuddin Rajputana Baroda Maharaja Pratapsingh Coronation Gymkhana Ground, Baroda 1942-43
12y 76d Samar Bose Bihar Assam Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur 1959-60
12y 247d Mohammad Ramzan Northern India United Provinces Baradari Ground, Patiala 1937-38
13y 159d Karun Pal Delhi Punjab Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi 1980-81
13y 270d Vedraj Chauhan Punjab Haryana Government College Ground, Muktasar 1974-75
13y 309d Dhruv Pandove Punjab Himachal Pradesh Gandhi Sports Complex Ground, Amritsar 1987-88
13y 336 Laxman Singh Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh Nehru Stadium, Indore 1966-67
13y 344d Maharaja of Baroda CK Nayudu’s XI DB Deodhar’s XI Maharaja Pratapsingh Coronation Gymkhana Ground, Baroda 1943-44
14y 142d Kerala Varma Kelappan Travancore-Cochin Mysore Central College Ground, Bangalore 1951-52
14y 182d Harman  Harry Punjab Baroda Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited Sports Complex Ground, Vadodara 1998-99

 

The youngest Indian to play First-Class cricket was Alimuddin in 1942-43. He was 12 years 73 days old. Other players to make debut for age of 13 are Samar Bose in 1959-60 and Mohammad Ramzan in 1937-38.

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)

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