It is the dream of every person living on the planet to do something unique and get his name registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. Over the years, thousands of people have done the weirdest tasks to enroll themselves in the elite list of records. The book even features a lot of sporting records and luckily for the cricket fans, the book even recognizes cricket as a major sport.
Since India is one of the leading cricketing nations of the world, the Indian fans are bound to have expectations for their players to feature in the Guinness Book of World Records. While a lot of players have donned the Indian jersey at the international level, only 3 have been able to make it to the elite book. Here’s a look at the three Indian cricketers who feature in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Virag Mare – Record for the Longest Net Session :
Starting off with the least popular name on this list, Virag Mare never made it to the Indian international team. The Mumbai-based player dreamed to play for the nation one day however, the cut-throat competition prevailing in the Indian cricket arena denied him to do so. Virag used to sell Vadapav in Mumbai before he shifted to Pune to pursue his cricketing dream.
When he was 24 years old, he created a unique record by practicing in a net session which lasted for 3 days and 2 nights. He kicked off the session on 22nd December 2015 and played 2,447 overs which is equal to 14,682 balls in 50 hours, 5 minutes and 51 seconds before leaving the net. He shattered the record of Dave Newman and Richard Wells with this impressive feat.
Raja Maharaj Singh – Record for the Oldest First Class Player:
Cricket is a finite game. Even if a cricketer starts playing international cricket in his teenage, the maximum number of years he can stay active on the cricket field will range between 20 to 25 only. The body of an individual gets drained out during a cricket match, especially during a Test where one has to give his best on the field for 5 consecutive days.
The second toughest form of cricket is First-Class cricket where matches range between two to five days and mostly the warm-up matches, as well as the domestic games, are played in this format. It goes without saying that a cricketer on the other side of 40s will find it very hard to play an entire FC game however the former governor of Bombay, Raja Maharaj Singh made his FC debut at the age of 72 years. He led the Governor’s XI in that game aged 72 Years and 192 days. Although he could not make much impact against Commonwealth XI, he got his name registered in Guinness Book of World Records.
MS Dhoni – Record for the Most Expensive Bat :
MS Dhoni had auctioned his 2011 World Cup winning bat with which he finished off the final match against Sri Lanka in style with a maximum at the Wankhede Stadium. Soon, Dhoni put his bat for sale at an event named ‘East meets West’. A firm named R.K. Global purchased the bat for £100,000 ($161,295) and very kindly, Dhoni used that amount to invest in his wife’s charity organization ‘Sakshi Foundation.’
The real gentleman of the cricket game hence, made a royal entry to the Guinness Book of World Records. Thus, these are three Indian cricketers who hold an elite world record to their name.
