Ravichandran Ashwin questions quality gap in India's domestic cricket
What's the story
Former Indian spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed concern over the disparity in quality among teams in Indian domestic cricket. His remarks came after Bihar posted a mammoth 574 runs against Arunachal Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Plate Diivision on Wednesday, December 24. While Ashwin lauded Vaibhav Suryavanshi's individual performance, he questioned the overall competitiveness of such one-sided matches. Here's more.
Quality concerns
Ashwin highlights lack of competition in domestic cricket
"There is a huge divide, chalk and cheese, in terms of quality with some teams. It becomes very lop-sided with some teams and there is no contest at all," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. While Ashwin praised Suryavanshi's performance, he raised concerns about its impact on the confidence of weaker teams like Arunachal Pradesh. "If we are serious about teams like Arunachal Pradesh becoming good sides, what will this do to their confidence?" he asked.
Historic knock
Sooryavanshi's record-breaking performance in Vijay Hazare Trophy
Sooryavanshi, a 14-year-old prodigy, scored a List A century in just 36 balls against Arunachal Pradesh. The match was held at the JSCA Oval Ground in Ranchi. His innings included an astonishing 16 fours and 15 sixes, making it the second-fastest century by an Indian in List A history. Bihar's Plate Group opener saw Sooryavanshi score a blistering 190 runs off just 84 balls before falling short of the fastest double-century record.
Performance
Same match saw Sakibul Gani make records
Bihar's Sakibul Gani took 32 balls to bring up his hundred in the same match. It became the fastest by an Indian in men's List A cricket. As per ESPNcricinfo, Gani's century also became the third-fastest recorded men's List A hundred, behind Jake Fraser-McGurk's 29-ball effort (vs Tasmania in 2023) and the 31-ball century by AB de Villiers (vs West Indies in 2015).
Records
Bihar go on rampage, make records against Arunachal Pradesh
Bihar hit a total of 36 sixes in their innings. As per ESPNcricinfo, it's the most in a men's List A innings. Bihar also became the first team to record three centurions in an innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ayush Loharuka scored 116 alongside Suryavanshi (190) and Gani (124*). Bihar's total of 574/6 against Arunachal Pradesh became the highest in men's List A cricket.