Star Odisha opener Swastik Samal on Wednesday became the first batter from his state to score a double hundred in List A cricket, as he and captain Biplab Samantray led their team to a whopping 345/6 batting first, during their Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Saurashtra.
It was also the fifth-highest individual score in the history of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, going past Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 203 for Mumbai against Jharkhand in 2019. Samal’s monumental innings propelled Odisha to a formidable 345/6 in their allotted 50 overs against Saurashtra.
Samal, who went unsold at the IPL 2026 auction alongside teammate Rajesh Mohanty, opened the batting for Odisha and gave the team a solid start. However, early setbacks followed as Odisha lost Om T Munde,
Sandeep Pattanaik and Govind Poddar in quick succession, slipping to 59/3 in the 12th over.
Samal and Samantray then built a massive 261-run partnership before the latter was dismissed by Ankur Panwar. Riding on the two big knocks, Odisha posted 345/6.
Samal’s knock was studded with 21 boundaries and eight sixes. Playing just his 14th List A match for Odisha, he also became the 14th Indian player to register a double hundred in List A cricket.
Highest individual scores in Vijay Hazare Trophy
Narayan Jagadeesan: 277 vs Arunachal Pradesh, 2022
Prithvi Shaw: 227* vs Pondicherry, 2021
Ruturaj Gaikwad: 220* vs Uttar Pradesh, 2022
Sanju Samson: 212* vs Goa, 2019
Swastik Samal: 212 vs Saurashtra, 2025
Who Is Swastik Samal?
The 25-year-old made his T20 debut in February 2019, against Mizoram, but was dismissed for a two-ball duck. Samal now has 362 runs from 13 T20s, at a strike rate of 160.88, besides one hundred and two half-centuries to his name.
Samal made his List A debut against Haryana in October 2019, but could only manage a run-a-ball 12. Ahead of the big knock on Wednesday, he had 309 runs from 10 matches with three fifties to his name.
Samal made his first-class debut against Haryana in December 2022, but could score just one run in the only innings he batted in. He currently has 686 runs from 12 matches, with two hundreds and three half-centuries to his name.
