BENGALURU: On Friday, Vidarbha batter Danish Malewar made history by scoring a stunning double century and then choosing to retire out during a Duleep Trophy encounter. He became a member of a select group of cricketing superstars. The 21-year-old’s choice to depart the crease after scoring 203 runs made him the first Indian to retire out after scoring a double hundred in 81 years.
Malewar came in to bat early on the opening day and showed great poise and maturity. He and Aryan Juyal (60) put together an important 139-run partnership. After that, he and captain Rajat Patidar (125) put together a huge 199-run stand. Day 1 ended early because of bad light and rain, with Malewar at an unbeaten 198.
Malewar didn’t waste any time when he started his innings again on Day 2. He hit his first professional double hundred with a boundary in the first over. He hit 36 fours and a six in his brilliant innings, which ended at 203 when he made the strange choice to retire out. In T20 cricket, teams often make this maneuver to shift the flow of the game by switching out a batter. However, it is still quite rare in the lengthier format.
Malewar became the sixth player in first-class cricket history to retire after scoring a double century with this move. He is the first Indian to do this since the great Vijay Merchant, who retired with 201 runs in December 1944. Gogumal Kishenchand was the first Indian player to retire after scoring a double ton in March 1944. Sri Lankan greats Marvan Atapattu (the only one to accomplish it in a Test match) and Aravinda de Silva, as well as New Zealander Craig Spearman, who holds the record for the highest score by a retired-out batter at 216, are all important members of this elite group.
Malewar’s great play, along with important help from his colleagues, helped Central Zone to a tremendous total of 532/4 before they called it a day. As a result, North East Zone’s batting order had a lot of trouble with Aditya Thakare and Harsh Dubey’s bowling, and they ended Day 2 in a bad spot at 168/7.