Bengal batter Sudip Gharami had built a marathon innings of a lifetime in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 quarter-final against Andhra, breaking records along the innings before falling one short of a landmark figure on Monday.
Batting on during the fourth day of the clash at the Bengal Cricket Academy in Kalyani, the stoic No. 3 batter was pushing towards a record-breaking triple century after Bengal had cemented their authority on the game after having soared past Andhra’s first-innings total. Batting first, the visitors had compiled only 295, but Gharami’s stunning knock had almost single-handedly wiped out Andhra’s hopes for the first-innings lead.
Having cracked his maiden double century and Bengal showing no signs of stopping their batting with the crucial innings lead in hand, the 26-year-old patiently moved towards his 300 on Day 4. He built century partnerships for the sixth and seventh wickets, the latter being a 221-run association with wicket-keeper Shakir Gandhi, the highest of the innings. Gharami lost two partners in quick succession in Gandhi and Akash Deep before soaring up to his 299th run. However, when Andhra’s leggie Shaik Rasheed managed to scuttle one in with low bounce, Gharami lost his vigil and his off-stump. The right-hander, who had a previous high score of 186, became the first Indian man ever to fall one short of a triple century and only the third man in all of First-Class cricket to suffer such a fateful dismissal.
A knock worthy of a 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 👏
Sudip Gharami walks back after a marathon inning of 299 (596) to keep Bengal ahead in the quarter final!
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic)
There were more famous occasions of 299 on the scorecard, including that of the legendary Donald Bradman who finished unbeaten on the score in a Test match against South Africa at the Adelaide Oval in 1931-32 season. Among Indians, former Maharashtra cricket SS Sugwekar had similarly recorded an unbeaten 299 in the Ranji Trophy in 1988-99.
Gharami would join New Zealand legend Martin Crowe and Englishman Michael Powell as the only batters to be dismissed on 299 in First Class cricket.
Gharami’s knock lasting 596 balls was the sixth-longest in Indian First Class history, with the five before being the only men from the country to have batted for 600 balls or more in an innings. At stumps, Andhra had lost three more wickets after Bengal ended their first innings at 629, trailing by 270 runs. In all likelihood, Gharami’s side will march into the semi-finals where they will take on first-timers J&K next week.
299* – Don Bradman – Australia (1) v South Africa Adelaide Oval, Adelaide 1931/32
299* – SS Sugwekar* – Maharashtra (1) v Madhya Pradesh Nehru Stadium, 1988/892
299 – Martin Crowe – New Zealand (2) v Sri Lanka Basin Reserve, Wellington 1990/91
299 – Michael Powell – Glamorgan (1) v Gloucestershire College Ground, Cheltenham 2006
299 – Sudip Gharami – Bengal v Andhra, Kalyani 2026
