Ajit John
ajit@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: They were born a few years apart, when Sachin Tendulkar was setting stadiums alight with his power-hitting back in the mid-1990s. But what Goan boys Snehal Kauthankar (29) and Kashyap Bakhale (26) did on Thursday has lit up Indian domestic cricket and would make the Master Blaster himself proud.
At the Goa Cricket Association (GCA) Ground in Porvorim, the two batsmen from Goa shattered records that elevated them to cricketing glory with a mammoth unbroken partnership of 606 runs against Arunachal Pradesh — the highest for any wicket in the 90-year history of Ranji Trophy!
Yes. Let that sink in. Read that again. The highest every partnership for any wicket in the Ranji Trophy, leaving behind the likes of even a certain Ravindra Jadeja who features in the third highest of all partnerships.
Bakhale reached his triple century in 269 balls, and remained unbeaten on 300, while Kauthankar went on to score an 314 from just 215 deliveries. Their efforts resulted in a gargantuan 643-run first-innings lead, putting their side firmly in control.
Speaking to O Heraldo, the two record-setters later shared their excitement, expressing satisfaction with their performances and optimism for more such innings in the future.
Kashyap said, “It’s been a long time coming. We trained hard, and our practice sessions were fantastic leading up to the Ranji. We had played
in one tournament before coming into Ranji Trophy and we had done very well.”
Snehal echoed the sentiment saying, “The preparation was very good. We had a 25-day camp in Chandigarh. Everyone was so confident and felt that this year something magical would happen.”
Speaking about the pitch used for the match Kashyap said the pitch was very good for batting though it had some moisture in the morning of the first day. “Arjun bowled beautifully and took full advantage and bowled out the opposition,” he said.
“We then got the best part of the batting pitch to play on,” he added.
Their next game will be against Nagaland. When asked what the duo felt about the match, Kashayp said, “Nagaland has a good side and pushed us hard in our previous encounter but we pulled through and beat them. They are good but we are better still. Now our focus is on the upcoming T20 tournament in Hyderabad. We have a good team and last year we did really well and we expect the same thing this year too. We have played with teams like Mumbai and we have good experience with them.”
The duo has played U-19 but what helped them more was the team environment with no cadre on seniority being present. This led to a great deal of comfort within the team and they did not have to think much before talking to seniors. The presence of Dinesh Mongia was cited as an excellent plus for the team. Snehal said, “He has played for India, played the world cup and whenever I go and talk to him he shares his experience in international cricket.”
This was only the second instance of two batters recording triple tons in the same innings of a Ranji Trophy match. Tamil Nadu’s W V Raman and Arjun Kripal Singh had struck 313 and 302 runs, respectively, against Goa in 1989.
Goa’s first-innings total of 727 was the second-highest score in the Plate division, sitting only below Meghalaya’s 826 for seven against Sikkim in 2018. Across the Ranji Trophy, this was the ninth-highest total.