Priyanshu Moliya was unbeaten on 321 off 492 balls for Baroda against Jammu & Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy on Tuesday. At 21 years and 132 days, he is the seventh-youngest Indian to make a triple hundred in first-class cricket.
He is the second Baroda batter to reach 300, and his score passed Gul Mohammad’s 319 against Holkar in the 1946-47 final. Moliya hit 36 fours and a six at the Reliance Cricket Ground in Vadodara. Baroda, who chose to bat, were all out for 616 in 169 overs, and J&K were 6 without loss at the end of Day 2.
Baroda had been 63 for 3 at one stage. Moliya and Mahesh Pithiya, who made 102, added 232 for the seventh wicket.
“I wanted to have a long partnership and take the team to a good position,” Moliya said. He was 113 not out at the end of the first day, and on the second he spoke to the head coach, who told him to bat as long as possible. “That was my mindset.” He does not hesitate to say that the pitch was good for batting. “I think the responsibility was big,” he told BCCI.
Big innings are nothing new to him. At 13, in an Under-14 tournament in Vadodara, he made 556 not out, off 319 balls, with 98 fours and a six. At the Mohinder Lala Amarnath Cricket Academy, he made 1,100 and 1,500 runs in consecutive seasons. Despite making Ranji debut in 2022, he spent the last season with the Under-23 side before making his return to the senior squad this season.
He comes from Rajkot. His father, Suresh, ran a small construction business and was a cricket fanatic who had decided that if he ever had a son, he would make him a cricketer. When Moliya was about eight, Suresh sought the guidance of former India cricketers Karsan Ghavri and Yajurvindra Singh. On the advice of an early coach, Anil Thakral, the family moved to Baroda when Moliya was 11, and he joined the academy where Mohinder Amarnath became a mentor.
“My father wanted me to become a cricketer. He had a construction business but one day he decided to take me to Baroda. It was a complete fresh start. Now when I look back, it was a complete gamble. He took care of my training and anything related to cricket,” Moliya said after the innings.
One line from those conversations has stayed with him. “Sab log 100 marte hain, kuch bada karna hai toh bada run marna padega, tabhi people will recognise you. I feel red ball is all about big runs and consistency.”
Former Tamil Nadu batsman R Prasanna, who is the coach of Baroda, says Moliya’s biggest strength is his game awareness. “He has shown already that he can soak in the pressure and play the situation. When it comes to red-ball cricket you can see old-school method in him. Even if mid-on and mid-off are up, he doesn’t hit in the air. He beats them with drives,” Prasanna said.
Everyone scores hundreds, his father told him; to do something big, you have to score big runs.
His Ranji career began in December 2022, at 17, with 118 against Odisha and an unbeaten 144 against Haryana. He played for India at the 2024 Under-19 World Cup, and in the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy he made consecutive hundreds against J&K and Chandigarh. Earlier this month he made 132 against Bihar.
“I just like to bat. You make me bat anytime, I will bat. My father is my coach, he gives me throwdowns and I just keep batting. I feel to make a name, I need to be consistent. I need to score big runs so that I can get noticed,” he said.
The other factor that Prasanna feels impressed is Moliya’s work ethics. “He reminds me a lot of Sai Sudharsan. Very studious on and off the field. He is always open to learn and listen. Which perhaps tells you why he plays the situation rather than his natural game. Also, he is a very good off-spinner, which we haven’t used much because of Mahesh Pithiya,” Prasanna said.
Moliya phone has not stopped ringing, and his body is tired, but there is pride in his voice. The message that meant the most came from Wasim Jaffer, who made a triple hundred at 18.
“Wasim Jaffer bhai messaged me and congratulated me. He is a legend. He texted, ‘Well done. Keep doing this.’ It feels good.”