The next Brian Lara? 14-year-old Kirstan Kallicharan scores 404 not out in 35 overs

The record-breaker Kirstan Kallicharan

From the land of legendary Brian Lara, 14-year-old Kirstan Kallicharan, skipper of Trinidad and Tobago’s U-15 cricket team, scored 404 not out in a 35-over match for his school earlier this week. Kallicharan, who’s in incredible form this season, scored the quadruple century in a PowerGen Secondary Schools Cricket League (SSCL) U-14 playoff quarter-final.

Playing for his school Vishnu Boys Hindu College, Kallicharan came in at number 3 and hit 44 fours and 31 sixes – scoring 362 runs via boundaries alone – in his mammoth innings. He came in to bat in the 10th over, and by the end of 35th over, had propelled his team to a massive total of 548 runs. He attacked the bowlers as soon as he came to the crease, scoring his first hundred runs in just 35 balls!

The opponents, Valencia High School, were dismissed for just 89 runs, handing Vishnu a 459-run win.

Until last year, Brian Lara’s 168 was the highest individual score in SSCL cricket, but Kallicharan has gone past that 3 times now. He first broke the record last year with an innings of 194 in an U-14 game, falling 6 runs short of a double. He reached the landmark earlier this year though, hitting 215 runs in an U-16 match. With his 404 not out, Kallicharan has raised the bar much higher now.

“At the beginning I was just batting normal, just aiming to make a hundred but when I got to my century I realised I could score more and more and I just continued to bat,” the right-handed batsman told Trinidad Express.

“I am not over-reacting about it. I am just felling happy I reached there. I am staying focused,” Kallicharan added.

Vishnu Boys coach Tarandath Sammy, however, wasn’t surprised at the 14-year-old’s feat.

“He had dominated the Under-13 level and the Under-15 level last year. It is remarkable but we are not reading too much into it.

“Before the game, we were discussing the batting order and I asked him if he wanted to open the batting, but he said he wanted to give the other boys a chance,” Sammy said.

Kallicharan’s contribution extended with the ball too as he picked 2 wickets without giving away any runs in the 1 over he bowled in the match. His teammate Rickash Boodram too picked up 2/0 in 0.3 overs.

The youngster is sponsored by Texas based cricket equipment supplier ‘Hammer’, which also sponsors his school. He tweeted this after scoring 404 not out:

Kallicharan’s innings has created a huge buzz in the sporting circles in the country, with the talks of the ‘next Brian Lara’ doing rounds. Though it’s too early to say, Trinidad and Tobago’s sports minister Anil Robers surely didn’t hold back his emotions.

“It not only takes skill and physical strength to deliver such an amazing performance but clearly this young “phenom” has a level of mental discipline that belies his age,” Roberts said.

“The innings reminds me so much of the drive and discipline Brian Lara exhibited while he was at Fatima. I witnessed that first hand as a student and now as Minister, I see Kallicharan clearly signalling that he too, has the potential to become one of the sport’s greatest batsmen. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to young Kirstan, his parents, coaches and his school.”

Brief Scores:

Vishnu Boys 548-1 (35 overs) (Kirstan Kallicharan 404 n.o., Rickash Boodram 37 n.o., Sachin Dookie 22; Stefon Gould 1/66) vs Valencia 89 (24 overs) (Kirstan Kallicharan 2/0, Rickash Boodram 2/0, Ceejay Harrypersad 3/11)

@hammercricket 404 thanks to Jason mellet for sponsoring me with A class gears. pic.twitter.com/0zBAJKCAIY

— Kirstan Kallicharan (@KrisKallicharan) May 13, 2014