Rinku Singh has become the Uttar Pradesh batter with the most centuries in first-class cricket, achieving this milestone during the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.
Following his second consecutive century, Singh’s first-class batting average has reached among the top 10 all-time best.
Singh scored a commanding 118 not out from 186 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes, helping Uttar Pradesh recover from 33 for three to reach 202. This innings followed his 112-run effort in the team’s campaign opener against Bihar, a match which Uttar Pradesh won. Madhav Kaushik contributed 45 runs, the team’s second-highest score in the innings, while Yash Kasvankar took five wickets for 86 runs.
In 55 first-class matches and 78 innings, Singh has amassed 3,987 runs at an average of 61.33, registering 11 centuries and 23 half-centuries. His highest score to date is 176. Prior to this match, his average stood at 59.52.
By scoring his 11th century, Singh surpassed Tanmay Shrivastava, a member of India’s 2008 Under-19 World Cup-winning team, to hold the record for the most centuries by an Uttar Pradesh batter in first-class cricket.
Singh’s first-class batting average ranks ninth highest in history among players with a minimum of 50 innings. The all-time highest average belongs to Donald Bradman of Australia, with 95.14 over 338 innings, followed by India’s Vijay Merchant at 71.64 across 234 innings. Other Indian batsmen in the top 10 include Ajay Sharma (67.46 in 166 innings), Shantanu Sugwekar (63.1 in 122 innings), and Sarfaraz Khan (62.92 in 95 innings).
Although Singh has primarily played T20 Internationals for India, he has been in excellent form in first-class cricket recently, scoring 118 not out, 112, 60, 20, 176, 165 not out, 68, 89, 6, 26, and 10 in his last 10 matches. These innings total 850 runs in 11 innings at an average of 94.44, including four centuries and three half-centuries, with a highest score of 176.