NEW DELHI: On his Duleep Trophy debut for Central Zone, Danish Malewar etched his name in history on Friday by becoming the first Vidarbha batter to score a double century in the tournament, reaching the milestone swiftly at the start of Day 2's play against North East Zone on Friday.
The right-handed batter went on to create another milestone by retiring out on 203, becoming the first Indian batter in 81 years to retire out after scoring a double century. Vijay Merchant was the last Indian batter, who retired out on 201 for Cricket Club of India against Services XI in December 1944.
After smashing 200 off just 220 balls, studded with 36 boundaries and a six, Malewar retired out moments before joining the elite list of fastest Indians to 1000 First-Class runs, achieving the feat in only 16 innings.
The first instance of a first-class cricketer retiring out after scoring a double century was also recorded by an Indian - Gogumal Kishenchand, who made 204 for CK Nayudu's XI against DB Deodhar's XI in March 1944, the same year as Merchant.
Craig Spearman was the last batter to retire out after scoring a double hundred, making 216 for Gloucestershire against Oxford University Centre of Cricketing Excellence in 2005 - the highest score by any batter to retire out in first-class cricket.
In Test cricket, Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu remains the only player to retire out after reaching a double century. Another Sri Lankan batter Aravinda de Silva featured on the list when he retired out for 202 against Mashonaland Country Districts in Harare in 1994-95.
