Akash Kumar Choudhary smashed his way into cricket’s record books in an Indian domestic match, hitting eight consecutive sixes on his way to the fastest fifty ever scored in a first-class fixture.
The big-hitting feat meant he surpassed the feats of two of cricket’s all-time greats by not only striking six sixes in the same over but adding two more from the next two deliveries he faced.
It made Akash the first player ever to hit eight successive sixes in first-class action, while his record-breaking fifty came from just 11 balls.
The stunning knock occurred on day two of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group match between Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh in Surat, in the west Indian state of Gujarat.
Coming in at number eight with Meghalaya 576-6, Akash began with a dot and two singles before hitting six straight sixes off left-arm spinner Limar Dabi.
It made him just the third player to achieve that single-over feat in a first-class match, after West Indies legend Sir Garfield Sobers in 1968 and former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri in 1985.
The 25-year-old followed that with back-to-back sixes during the next over from off-spinner TNR Mohith, taking him to a half-century.
The 11 balls it took to reach 50 beat the previous record of 12 it took for Wayne White when playing for Leicestershire against Essex in 2012.
Meghalaya soon declared on 629-8, with Akash ending unbeaten on 50 from 14 balls.
If that was not enough, Akash then shone with the ball to put Meghalaya on course for a thumping win.
The seam bowler took 1-10 as Arunachal Pradesh were skittled out for just 73.
And after Arunachal Pradesh were asked to follow on, he took 2-7 as they limped to 29-3 at the close – still a mammoth 526 runs behind.
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