Top 3 highest scores in the Cooch Behar Trophy ft. Prakhar Chaturvedi
The premier domestic competition in men's Under-19 cricket in India, the Cooch Behar Trophy has historically produced cricketers who have gone on to represent the country and win laurels for it.
The age-old tournament was introduced in the country in the 1945-46 season and was donated by the family of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, which is in present-day West Bengal.
It used to be an inter-school tournament across the country but it has become the premier four-day inter-state competition for U-19 boys since the 1987-88 season.
The Cooch Behar Trophy has been in the news of late owing to the stellar unbeaten 404 scored by Prakhar Chaturvedi of Karnataka in the final against Mumbai in Shimoga on Sunday.
On the way to this gigantic score, Chaturvedi broke the 24-year-old record held by Yuvraj Singh for the highest score ever in the final of the same. The latter achieved this feat when he scored 358 against Bihar Under-19 in 1999-2000.
We look at the top three highest scorers in the Cooch Behar Trophy:
#1 Vijay Zol - 451 (Maharashtra)
Former India U-19 captain Vijay Zol made headlines when he scored 451 for Maharashtra against Assam in Nashik in the 2011-12 edition of the Cooch Behar Trophy.
Zol is a fascinating batter who is known to tear into opposition bowling attacks the moment he smells a whiff of a chance. The 29-year-old has played in fifteen first-class matches and 19 List A games for Maharashtra.
#2 Prakhar Chaturvedi - 404* (Karnataka)
Young Prakhar Chaturvedi set the record for having scored a quadruple-century for the first time in the final of the Cooch Behar Trophy when he did so for Karnataka against Mumbai in Shimoga on Sunday.
Chaturvedi is now second on the list of the highest scores ever made in this tournament. He ended his innings with an unbeaten 404 as Karnataka put up a gigantic 890 for eight declared in 223 overs responding to Mumbai's 380 all out.
Chaturvedi faced 638 balls in all, hitting 46 fours and three sixes in his knock. He may expect a call-up to the senior Karnataka side, who recently crashed to a close six-run loss against Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy.
#3 Yuvraj Singh - 358 (Punjab)
Former India star Yuvraj Singh held the record for the highest score ever made in the final of the Cooch Behar Trophy for 24 years before Prakhar Chaturvedi broke it on Sunday.
Playing against Bihar Under-19s in the 1999-2000 edition of the tournament, Yuvraj scored 358 for Punjab Under-19s.
The Bihar side also had a certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in their lineup, who would go on to lead India to two white-ball World Cup titles in the future. Yuvraj took 404 balls to get to his milestone and scored forty boundaries and five sixes.