Samit Gohel scores world-record 359 for Gujarat and carries his bat in quarter-final

Samit Gohel of Gujarat made history on Tuesday by becoming the first opening batsman to score a triple century and carry his bat through the innings in 81 years of first-class cricket. It is also the highest unbeaten score by an opening batsman in first-class cricket. Gohel smashed 45 fours and a solitary six during his monumental innings which he achieved in 723 balls.

With his stupendous innings, Gohel went past legendary cricketer Bobby Abel who scored 357 way back in 1899. He also became the 5th batsman to score a triple century in Ranji Trophy this season. It was not too long ago when Gohel was cited as a strokeless wonder in Ranji circles. “He used to defend even half-volleys during the early part of his innings. He could play all the shots but hardly used his full repertoire. He had a kind of mental block. I’m happy that he has managed to get over it,” Gujarat coach Vijay Patel was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

He admitted being ultra-defensive many times during his career which has cost him. He was thankful to team skipper Parthiv Patel “for changing his mindset and give more confidence over his shots. “I had to change the mindset. Earlier, I used to be iffy about playing my shots unless I got a 200 per cent boundary ball. Parthiv bhai (Patel) played a huge role in changing things. He was always by my side, trying to nail in positivity. He always gave me the confidence and told me about the benefits of being positive. Confidence was the biggest factor in this change. The biggest positive is that I can rotate strike more freely.” he was quoted as saying.

Gohel who scored only 4 runs in the first innings of the quarter-final against Odisha made up for his failure in the 2nd innings with a stupendous knock. The match eventually ended in a draw but Gujrat won on the basis of the first innings lead and booked their place in the semi-finals.