Ahmedabad: In a historic Vijay Hazare Trophy encounter at the Gujarat College Cricket Ground in Ahmedabad, Punjab’s opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh achieved a remarkable feat. Their opening partnership of 298 runs for the first wicket tied the second-highest opening stand in the history of the competition, a record set in 2022 by Sudip Gharami and Abhimanyu Easwaran of Bengal.
The duo’s aggressive approach laid a solid foundation for Punjab’s innings, with Prabhsimran leading the charge by scoring 125 runs off 95 balls, including 15 boundaries and three sixes. Abhishek, however, was even more dominant, smashing 170 runs from 96 deliveries, which included eight sixes and 22 fours. Their partnership propelled Punjab past 300 runs by the 32nd over, setting the stage for a massive total.
Punjab’s final score of 424/5 was a monumental achievement, tying for the fifth-highest total in Vijay Hazare Trophy history, alongside Madhya Pradesh’s 424 against Nagaland in 2022. Notably, this made Punjab only the fourth team in the tournament’s history to surpass the 400-run mark. Tamil Nadu currently holds the record for the highest total in Vijay Hazare history, with an astonishing 506/2 against Arunachal Pradesh in 2022.
Abhishek and Prabhsimran’s opening partnership also enters a select list in Indian domestic cricket. However, the record for the largest opening partnership remains with N. Jagadeesan and B. Sai Sudharsan of Tamil Nadu, who set a staggering 416-run partnership in 2022, which still stands as the highest in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and all of List A cricket.
