A triple century for Mayank Agarwal in Karnataka’s fourth round match against Maharashtra makes him the latest addition of a growing club in domestic cricket.
Since the tournament’s inception in 1934, it has seen 43 triple centuries. The first 20 came in the tournament’s first 70 years. Agarwal has just hit the 23rd triple century since 2007.
Scoring has drastically gone up. It’s an interesting coincidence that the Indian Premier League’s inaugural season in 2008 coincides with this shift in scoring. Domestic batsmen could be picking up habits from the shorter format, enabling their high scores.
Last season, five different batsmen scored triple centuries in the Ranji Trophy, none of whom have played Tests for India. Traditional batsmen such as Cheteshwar Pujara, Wasim Jaffer and VVS Laxman have been able to achieve this feat twice, but so has a brash Ravindra Jadeja.
It’s unclear why we’re seeing higher individual scores at Ranji games. It could be the aggressive batting techniques inspired by T20 cricket, or it could be the use of heavier bats. The pitches have changed too.
The Field’s Kushal Phatarpekar spoke to a few experts to decode why the frequency of triple tons in the Ranji Trophy has increased exponentially in the last few years. Here’s what they had to say.
Whatever it maybe, it’s here to stay.
Note: This copy and graph were updated after Agarwal’s triple ton on November 3rd.