In December 1948, Bhausaheb Nimbalkar became the first-ever player in Ranji Trophy history to notch up 400 runs in an innings, remaining unbeaten on 443 for Maharashtra against Kathiawar, just nine short of Don Bradman's world record at the time of the highest individual score in first-class cricket history.

Bradman sat atop the list with an unbeaten 452 for New South Wales against Queensland in the 1929/30 Sheffield Shield season. 18 years later, however, Nimbalkar was stopped excruciatingly close to the record.

Kathiawar captain denied Nimbalkar the world record

At the Poona Club ground, Maharashtra bundled out Kathiawar for just 238 runs on the opening day of the game and batted on and on in response. Nimbalkar came out to bat at three with his team’s score reading 81-1. He added a staggering 455 runs with Kamal Bhandarkar (205) for the second wicket before stitching a 242-run stand with Sharad Deodhar for the third wicket.

All this while, Nimbalkar kept batting superbly and created history by becoming the first Indian batter to score a quadruple century in first-class cricket. At tea on the third day, Maharashtra were 826-4 with a massive lead of 608 runs and Nimbalkar was at 443*.

The result was inconsequential with the home team gaining a massive lead and this is when Kathiawar skipper, Thakore Saheb of Rajkot, gave an ultimatum to his counterpart, Raja Gokhale: declare or we will forfeit.

With a world record in sight, Gokhale and the match officials requested Kathiawar players to continue for two more overs to allow Nimbalkar to break Bradman's record, only to face their denial. Kathiawar eventually forfeited the game and Maharashtra were declared winners. But Nimbalkar was denied a world-record score.

“They kept saying that you have already scored so many runs, why do you want to get more,” Nimbalkar said a few years later, as per Cricinfo. “Their skipper felt that the name of the Kathiawar team would figure in the record books for the wrong reasons. I was left stranded in the middle of the ground.

“I didn't like the approach of the Kathiawar team. How could they be so unsporting? Once I came to know that I was just 10 runs short of a world record, I was desperate to achieve it because it would have put Sir Don's name behind me. But this didn't happen.”

Eventually, Sutar became only the second Indian batter after Nimbalkar to score a quadruple century in first-class cricket.

Hanif Mohammad broke Bradman’s record in 1959

The record was eventually broken by Pakistan’s Hanif Mohammad in 1959 when he amassed a mammoth 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpur. Brian Lara surpassed his world record 35 years later, smashing an unbeaten 501 for Warwickshire against Durham in June 1994. He still holds the record and is the only player to score a quintuple century in the history of first-class cricket.

Image Credit: Amit Paranjape/X, Getty

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