Arman Jaffer creates history at the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy

Arman Jaffer’s feat of three consecutive double centuries finds no match in the Cooch Behar Trophy records, or in international cricket records

17-year-old Arman Jaffer, who is the nephew of Indian domestic batting legend Wasim Jaffer, has achieved an unique feat in the ongoing U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy – he has slammed three consecutive double hundreds, as well as four consecutive hundreds. The Mumbai lad achieved this feat against Karnataka U-19, in a match which concluded on Tuesday.

Arman has done everything right this season – with 895 runs in 5 matches scored at an average of 223.75, he holds a sizeable lead as the highest run-getter in the Cooch Behar Trophy as well. He has also hit the most sixes in the tournament.

Arman’s run scoring streak, and his handy off break bowling which has earned him 9 wickets, currently sees Mumbai U-19 comfortably placed at the top of Elite Group A, with one last 4-day group match to be played from December 19 onwards.

The young Jaffer scored 174 against Tripura, 224 against Madhya Pradesh, 223 against Orissa, and was unbeaten on 218 when Mumbai declared their innings at 506/4 against Karnataka on Monday. He scored 56 in the opening match against Baroda, a rare failure to get into three figures.

The right hand batsman, born in 1998, is already recognised as a batting prodigy in Indian domestic cricket circles. His 498 for Rizvi Springfield School in 2010 is the currently standing record highest individual score in Indian school cricket – incidentally, a record which oncle belonged to his uncle’s score of 403.

A statistical wonder following in uncle’s footsteps

Wasim Jaffer’s run-scoring at the domestic level, despite not fully translating on the international stage, make his career a statistical wonder. And by the early look of things, his nephew is following a similar route.

Arman’s dual feats of three consecutive 200s and four consecutive 100s do not find a match in the history of the Cooch Behar Trophy.

Three consecutive double centuries is a record which finds no match in international cricket either, though there have been the very rare instance of two consecutive double centuries.

Kumar Sangakkara is the only batsman to have hit 4 consecutive centuries in the ODI format. There have been only five batsmen in the history of the Test format to accomplish this feat – Everton Weekes, Rahul Dravid, Younis Khan, Jack Fingleton and Alan Melville.

The 17-year-old Arman, who was recently picked in the list of list of 30 Ranji Trophy probables for the senior Mumbai squad, is knocking heavily on the doors of acclaim at the senior level.

With Rahul Dravid’s men taking part in the U-19 ICC World Cup early next year, a call-up to the international scheme of things may not be too far away either.