It is not every time in a first class match that a batsman can be atthe crease for over 1000 minutes
Vinod Saxena04-Nov-1999It is not every time in a first class match that a batsman can be atthe crease for over 1000 minutes. But the Himachal Pradesh captainRajiv Nayyar did just that in his team’s four day North Zone RanjiTrophy match against Jammu & Kashmir which ended in a tame draw at thePolice stadium in Chamba on Wednesday.Nayyar batted for 16 hours and 55 minutes in scoring 271, in theprocess creating a new individual record for Himachal Pradesh.Resuming at the overnight score of 407 for 6 in reply to J & K’s firstinnings total of 249, Nayyar opted to go for a statistical recordinstead of trying to obtain full points for his team. But he wassuccessful in his objective and went on to get 271 runs to become thefirst Himachal batsman to score a double hundred. He occupied thecrease for a record time of 1015 minutes. He faced 728 balls and hit26 fours and a six. J & K who bowled a mainly defensive line were onthe field for virtually three days after being all out for 249 justbefore close on the first day.Nayyar who came in early on the second day when the first wicket hadfallen at 39, was 89 at stumps and raised his score to 170 by thethird evening. This was his 61st Ranji Trophy match (113th innings)and the marathon knock was his 13th hundred in the Nationalcompetition. Incidentally he had also got a hundred against J & K lastyear. With Nischal Gaur who also hit a century against J & K lastseason, Nayyar added 146 runs for the second wicket, Gaur’s sharebeing a patient 69.Himachal were ultimately all out for 567 in 255.2 overs half an hourbefore the close of scheduled time. This total was the highest forHimachal against any team in the national championship. Sanjay Sharmawas the most successful bowler with four wickets for 117 runs in 77overs. Surinder Singh captured two wickets for 107 runs. In theremaining time, J & K scored 16 for one in their second innings.With this match Himachal Pradesh opened their points tally and havefive from two matches. J & K have six from the same number of games.