First Triple Century in T20 belongs to MOHIT AHLAWAT

Vijay Anand

T 20 is a form of cricket where every dot ball is a burden. Fearsome hits are the hallmark of the game. It sees high scoring rate with a mix of risk and adventure.

The highest individual score in T20 cricket is of Chris Gayle, who scored 175 runs in only 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The highest individual in international cricket is 156, hit by Aaron Finch who smashed these in 63 balls for Australia against England.

On 7th of February, Delhi boy Mohit Ahlawat joined the elites by hitting unbelievable triple century in a T20 game. The game was between his club Mawee eleven against Friends eleven. It was a local T- 20 tournament, ‘Friends Premier League’. This has happened for the first time anywhere in the world.  What made it more ironical that no team has scored more than 300 runs in T20 cricket. He was dropped after scores of 1, 4, 0, 0 and 0 in his five innings of Ranji matches. 

If we look back into history to draw parallel then Sri Lankan Dhanuka Pathirana’s 277 off 72 balls playing for Austerlands in a Twenty20 match in England's Saddleworth League in September 2007 comes to mind. Then Indian schoolboy Pranav Dhanawade’s achievement of record 1009 not out in January 2016 made way.  

The Delhi wicketkeeper-batsman cracked whopping 39 sixes and 14 boundaries to reach world record tally. He consumed only 72 balls in reaching WR. Again, it is difficult to swallow Ahlawat’s annihilation as no other player has ever crossed the 200-run-mark in any form of T20 cricket.

 He is an alumnus of St Mary’s School Panipat. He finished his initial cricket training at Bahadurgarh Balaji Cricket academy. His Coach Sanjay Bhardwaj advised his father to take his son to a better academy. Sanjay has coached Gautam Gambhir in the past. Then he shifted his base to Lal Bahadur Shastri Cricket Academy for greener pasture. 

Mohit has lived his life in penury. His father used to run auto rickshaw at one time to meet both ends. Mohit has played for Delhi Ranji Team in the past. He has played 3 Ranji games so far. He got break before Rishabh Pant. He idolizes M S Dhoni. Like him, he is also a wicketkeeper cum batsman. No doubt, he is following his footprints.

There is another side of the story. The ground on which he made mockery of bowlers and fielders was of 40 yards.  Normally, the international grounds are 75 yards wide from the pitch. Also, no official scorer was deployed for the duty and no official scorecard is available. Scorecard was made available only after 1 day. The tournament was not recognized by DDCA. Announcement for players like ‘Go home, guests are waiting for you’ were common. Only one end was under operation for batting because of buildings glasses on the other. Mat was in use as a makeshift pitch. Umpire was in track suit. He was not recognized either. People say that a century is a common score on this ground, even for a commoner. Amid this hullabulla, a question to media, what about records set by bowlers, other sports players and girls!!

After Rishabh Pant, another wicketkeeper-batsman star is on the rise from Delhi. Delhi Daredevil has scouted the talent and expressed desire for his services for IPL this season. Is another landmark on the cards with same bat!!