Samit Gohel is the fifth triple centurion this Ranji season. (Source: file)
Gujarat’s Samit Gohel made history on Tuesday by scoring 359 runs and thus taking his team’s total to 641. It is the the highest unbeaten score by an opening batsman in first-class cricket. Gohel achieved the feat in 723 balls and smashed 45 fours and one six on the way.
Gohel is also the first opener to remain unbeaten after crossing the 300-run-mark in 81 years in first class cricket. With his innings, he surpassed the previous highest total of 357 scored by county cricket legend Bobby Abel back in 1899. This is the second time that a Gujarat batsman has scored a triple century with the previous one coming in November 2016 by Priyank Panchal. Samit Gohel is the fifth batsman to score a triple-century this Ranji season.
It was not too long ago that Gohel was called 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 told The Indian Express.
Gohel himself has admitted to being too defensive many times in his career. He had Parthiv Patel to thank “for changing his mindset and give him 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 said.
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