The last man to have scored a century in each innings in a Ranji final was Sachin Tendulkar who scored 140 and 139 in Mumbai's 1994-95 final against Punjab.
The last man to have scored a century in each innings in a Ranji final was Sachin Tendulkar who scored 140 and 139 in Mumbai's 1994-95 final against Punjab.
It was probably fitting that Sharma, who has been hailed by many connoisseurs including former Australia captain Ian Chappell as Tendulkar's successor in the Indian team's batting order, joined the elite group of five batsmen to have achieved the feat (S Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Hazare, Hanumant Singh, Surinder Khanna, Tendulkar) with a straight six against left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta yesterday, the penultimate day of the Ranji final.
Sharma's 108 (146b, 17x4, 1x6) was in complete contrast to his 141 in Mumbai's first essay. While he displayed his maturity to hang in there on a wicket with some life after Mumbai had lost four early wickets in the first innings, he played his natural game and hit the UP bowlers all over the park yesterday.
It looked as if the big stage of a Ranji final, with wickets falling regularly at the other end and all five national selectors watching from the gallery, did not curb the talented No 5 batsman's natural instincts. He went on a rampage on what appears to be a happy hunting ground for him. "That's how I always prefer to play," Sharma told MiD DAY. "And I am happy it came off well today."
