In a gripping Ranji Trophy quarter-final at Eden Gardens on Feb. 9, 2026, Bengal batter Sudip Gharami grabbed the headlines and an unwanted place in cricketing trivia. The 26-year-old worked his way to a hard-fought 299 but fell short by a solitary run to get to the coveted triple-century mark.
The innings placed Gharami in an extremely exclusive club. He became only the third batter in First Class cricket history to be dismissed on 299, and the first Indian to suffer that fate. He is also the first batter in the 91-year history of the Ranji Trophy to be out on that score.
Batting after Andra's first innings total of 295, Gharami walked out to bat at no. 3 and played a marathon innings. He hit 31 fours and six sixes during his 596-ball stay at the crease, sharing century stands with Sumanta Gupta and wicketkeeper Habib Gandhi, he steadily wore down the Andhra attack.
With the triple century in sight, the decisive moment arrived in the 194th over. Andhra leg-spinner Shaik Rasheed bowled one that stayed low and beat Gharami's bat, crashing into the top of off stump. The crowds in Kalyani rose to its feet as Gharami walked back to the pavilion on 299, with the batter also receiving appreciative pats on his back from the Andhra players who recognised his monumental effort.
While the milestone eluded him, the knock still remains the career-best numbers for Gharami, and saw him become only the third batter in First Class history to be dismissed on that score. Gharami joins the likes of New Zealand's Martin Crowe and Englishman Michael Powell, who are the only two batters till date to be dismissed on 299 in First Class cricket.
There have been other famous innings where a batter has been stranded on 299, though without being dismissed. Sir Don Bradman was left unbeaten on 299 after running out of partners against South Africa in Adelaide in 1931–32, while Shantanu Sugwekar finished on 299* for Maharashtra against Madhya Pradesh in the 1988–89 Ranji Trophy.
| Batters Scoring 299 in a First Class innings | |
| 299* - Don Bradman | Australia vs South Africa, Adelaide Oval, 1931-32 |
| 299* - SS Sugwekar | Maharashtra vs Madhya Pradesh Nehru Stadium, Pune 1988-89 |
| 299 - Martin Crowe | New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Basin Reserve, Wellington 1990-91 |
| 299 - Michael Powell | Glamorgan vs Gloucestershire College Ground, Cheltenham 2006 |
| 299 - Sudip Gharami | Bengal vs Andhra, Kalyani 2026 |
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