Afghanistan s Baheer Shah entertained the spectators during his First-Class debut, scoring a double-century. He thus became only the 17th cricketer in history to have achieved this feat. His unbeaten 256 for Spinghar Region against Amo Region, in the Alokozay Ahmad Shah Abdali Four-Day Tournament, boosted his team s score to reach 605. They eventually won the match by an innings and 46 runs. Baheer, who is also the vice-captain of the side, hit 34 fours and a six in the process and scored at a strike rate of 60.95.

Spinghar won the toss and elected to bat at the Gazi Amanullah Khan Town Stadium. Hamayun Omar and Nasir Omar provided Spinghar with brilliant start, building a 100-run opening stand. Baheer took his team s effort forward with his record-breaking knock while captain Shaukat Zaman scored 169. Baheer s score is also the second-highest on First-Class debut, after Amol Mazumdar s 260 for Mumbai (then Bombay) during the 1993-94 Ranji Trophy season. Here is the list of players who scored a double-hundred on First-class debut:

Score Batsman Team Against Venue Season
260 Amol Muzumdar Bombay Haryana Faridabad 1993-94
256* Baheer Shah Speen Ghar Region Amo Region Gazi Amanullah Khan Town 2017-18
240 Eric Marx Transvaal Griqualand West Old Wanderers 1920-21
232* Sam Loxton Victoria Queensland Melbourne 1946-47
230 Gundappa Viswanath Mysore Andhra Vijayawada 1967-68
227 Tom Marsden Sheffield and Leicester Nottingham Sheffield 1826
215* Hubert Doggart Cambridge Lancashire Cambridge 1948
213 Jiwanjot Singh Punjab Hyderabad Mohali 2012-13
210* David Sales Northamptonshire Worcestershire Kidderminster 1996
209* Anshuman Pandey Madhya Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Bhilai 1995-96
207 Norman Callaway New South Wales Queensland Sydney 1914-15
202 Jeff Hallebone Victoria Tasmania Melbourne 1951-52
202 Abhishek Gupta Punjab Himachal Pradesh Dharamsala 2017-18
201* Manprit Juneja Gujarat Tamil Nadu Ahmedabad 2011-12
200* Arthur Maynard Trinidad MCC Port-of-Spain 1934-35
200* MJ Powell Glamorgan Oxford Oxford 1997

Jiwanjot scored 158 in his next First-Class match, while Pandey and Maynard never scored another century in their respective careers. Callway s story was rather tragic as his debut was his only First-Class appearance before he died in the First World War, thus making his First-Class average 227, which is the highest in history.