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

Rana 7th youngest Indian to score First-Class ton

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)

# – 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)

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, feat shared by Hasan Raza, Imran Farhat and Graeme Hick.

Wasim Jaffer is the youngest Indian to score 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    

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)