Stats: Most centuries by a player in Indian first-class cricket

At the age of 40, Wasim Jaffer still toils out on the field to help his teams in the Indian domestic circuit to excel with the bat. The ongoing 2017/18 season is a special one for the veteran player as he was part of Vidarbha’s maiden Ranji Trophy title and his 9th including eight titles with Mumbai. Jaffer’s contributions weren’t only restricted to batting but was a mentor to the young team and shared his valuable experiences from his 20-year professional cricket career.

Jaffer played some crucial knocks for Vidarbha during the tournament including a 78 in the final that helped them to take a big first innings lead. He scored 595 runs in nine matches at an average of 54.09 with a best of 158*. In the Irani Cup game that started on Wednesday, Wasim Jaffer scored an unbeaten century on the first day against the Rest of India team. He walked out to bat after Vidarbha lost their first wicket at 101. He later shared a 117-run stand with Faiz Fazal for the 2nd wicket and an unbeaten 3rd wicket partnership of 71 runs with Ganesh Satish.

Jaffer scored an unbeaten 113 off 166 balls with 16 fours and one six which was his 53rd century in first-class cricket and the 3rd in the Irani Cup. With his 6th consecutive fifty-plus score in the Irani Cup, Jaffer scored 1121 runs in 12 games and is the leading run-getter of this tournament. Sunil Gavaskar (12) and Ashok Mankad (13) are the other players to feature in 12 and more games in the Irani Cup. The unbeaten 113-run innings is the 49th hundred for Wasim Jaffer in first-class cricket in India.

The Irani Cup game was the 200th first-class match Jaffer on Indian soil; the joint 2nd most FC games for a player in India behind S Venkataraghavan’s 202 appearances. Jaffer’s 49 FC tons in India are the 2nd most behind Vijay Hazare’s 50 centuries. Jaffer, however, holds the record for most runs in Indian first-class cricket with 15654 runs. He became the first player to score 15000 FC runs in India during the Ranji Trophy earlier this year. Hazare’s record might not withstand longer with Jaffer expressing about playing the game for two more years.

Most centuries for a player in first-class cricket in India:

(Stats as on March 14, 2018)