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The sixteen-year-old Manipur pacer Pheiroijam Singh scripted history in the Ranji Trophy match against Sikkim on Wednesday (December 14) as he became only the fourth Indian to grab nine wickets on first-class debut.
The young turk ran riot riding on an unbelievable spell of 69/9 to join the elite list that features Vasant Ranjane (9/35, 1956-57), Amarjith Singh (9/45, 1971-72) and Sanjay Yadav (9/52, 2019-20) as all of them snared a nine-wicket-haul on their first-class debut respectively. Manipur skittled out Sikkim for a paltry 220. It was the 10th best in the first-class cricket history and the fourth best by an Indian on debut.
Best bowling figures on First-class debut
10-28: Albert Moss (for Canterbury v Wellington (Christchurch 1889/90)
10-36: Fitz Hinds (for AB St Hill’s XI v Trinidad (Port of Spain 1900/01)
9-29: James Lillywhite (for Sussex v Marylebone Cricket Club (Lord’s 1862)
9-35: Vasant Ranjane (for Maharashtra v Saurashtra (Khadakwasla 1956/57)
9-42: Walter Powys (for Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club (Cambridge 1871)
9-45: Amarjith Singh (for Kerala v Andhra (Kunnur 1971/72)
9-52: Sanjay Yadav (for Meghalaya v Nagaland (Sovima 2019/20)
9-55: John Quilty (for South Australia v Victoria (Adelaide Oval 1881/82)
9-67: Henry Hay (for South Australia v Lord Hawke’s XI (Adelaide (Unley Oval) 1902/03)
9-69: Jotin Pheiroijam Singh (for Manipur v Sikkim (Rangpo 2022/23)
It was a one-way traffic for Pheiroijam who triggered the collapse on the second day as Sikkim continued to lose wickets from being 58 for no loss overnight. He nearly became the first Indian to take all 10 wickets on first-class debut but it was Rex Rajkumar who dismissed Anwesh Sharma (39) to fold Sikkim's innings in 73.1 overs. Pheiroijam, albeit, played a role in the dismissal, by taking the catch of Sharma.
Englishman Albert Moss (10/38 in 1889-90) and Fitz Hinds (10/36; 1900-01) are the only two in the history of cricket to bowl all 10 wickets in an innings on first-class debut.
Sikkim however had the upper hand and took a slender first innings lead and reduced Manipur to 59/4 at stumps on day two. Overall, Manipur lead by just 25 runs with six wickets intact. Sumit Singh returned with figures of 3/23 as Manipur batters struggled to get a partnership going.
