5 domestic records that will never be broken

The cliched statement, 'records are meant to be broken' holds true most of the time. In cricket, every other day, a record is tumbled or a new one is made, and this cycle goes on for ever.

Although statistically speaking, all records can be broken, there are a few records whose chances of being broken are next to nought. For example, Jim Laker's 19 wickets in a Test is one such record which will surely stand the test of time.

And on that note, we look at five such records from Indian domestic cricket which will never be broken.

---

#5 Rajinder Goel - 637 wickets (most wickets in Ranji trophy history)

Every time a list of 'unfortunate cricketers who never played Test cricket despite deserving performances' is made, Rajinder Goel's name comes at the top. He was one of the finest spinners of his era, but thanks to the presence of the famous Indian spin quartet, he never made it to India's playing XI.

But Goel featured consistently in Ranji trophy and ended his career as the tournament's highest wicket-taker. His tally of 637 wickets is miles ahead of the second ranked bowler, S Venkataraghavan, who has 530 wickets under his belt.

Breaking Goel's record is a daunting task for any bowler as it will require consistent high-quality performances for more than a decade, which is practically impossible. A bowler with an impressive record will be roped in India's national team and hence he will miss out on Ranji games and thus, will not have the time to break Goel's record.

#4 VVS Laxman- 1415 runs in one season

During that epic season, Laxman scored eight hundreds in nine matches at a sterling average of 108 runs per innings

One of the pillars of India's batting unit during the 2000s, VVS Laxman used the Ranji trophy to stake his claim to a spot in the national team.

After being dropped from the national side, he came back to Ranji trophy and scored 1415 runs in 1999/00, a performance which forced the selectors to call him back in the national team. During that epic season, Laxman scored eight hundreds in nine matches at a sterling average of 108 runs per innings.

In the 2015/16 season, Shreyas Iyer from Mumbai came close to Laxman's tally by amassing 1321 runs and in 2016/17 season, Priyank Panchal from Gujarat scored 1310 runs.

Although both these players were close to Laxman's record, they failed to break it even after performing at their best. Panchal and Iyer, both would agree to the fact that replicating such performance won't be easy as staying consistent throughout the season is a massive task.

The current structure of Ranji trophy has reduced the number of matches a player can play in one season and also some other issues such as too much travelling and injury concerns mean that Laxman might stay at the top of this list after all.

#3 Hyderabad- Lowest team score (21)

Deepak Chahar bagged eight wickets

In a Ranji trophy match at Jaipur in 2010, Hyderabad team was reduced to a pulp as they were blown out for mere 21 runs.

Rajasthan's debut bowler, and an unknown entity in domestic cricket, Deepak Chahar destroyed the visitors by picking up eight wickets in the innings. In one and a half-hour, Hyderabad were done and dusted and had registered their name in the record books for scoring the lowest team score in Ranji trophy history.

This record might never be broken as BCCI has become strict with the playing conditions and quality of pitches and the curators take every possible step to ensure the pitch doesn't deteriorate.

Thus, Hyderabad will have to bear the burden of this disastrous performance forever.

#2 Bhausaheb Nimbalkar- 443* (highest individual score in Ranji trophy)

At that time, the highest score in a first class game was 452 by Don Bradman

The only batsman in the world to score a 400 in first-class cricket without featuring in a Test match, Bhausaheb Nimbalkar was one of the finest batsmen in India during his era.

In 1948, at Poona Club Ground, the visiting team, Kathiawar was all out for 238 runs on the first day. Then began the marathon innings of NImbalkar, in which he scored 443*, helping Maharashtra reach 826.

At that time, the highest score in a first class game was 452 by Don Bradman and the Maharashtra batsman was well within the reach of this milestone. But Kathiawar forfeited the match citing reasons of boredom and thus Nimbalkar was left stranded at 443*.

Seventy years later, Nimbalkar's record is still intact and may never be broken in the future as well.

#1 Premangsu Chatterjee - 10 wickets in an inning in first-class cricket

If there is a record which has the least chance of getting broken, then it is Premangsu Chatterjee's record of claiming all ten wickets in one innings. The Bengal medium-pacer achieved this feat against Assam in 1956/57 and inked his name in the record books.

Chatterjee's figures of 10 for 20 are even today, the best bowling figures by an Indian in first-class cricket and logically speaking, he will have no competitors in the near future as well.

Claiming all ten wickets in an innings is a tremendous task and in 140 years of Test cricket, this feat has been achieved only twice. First by Jim Laker and then by Anil Kumble. This stat demonstrates how difficult it is to break this record.