Ravi Shastri was one of the finest spin-bowling all-rounders that India produced. He made his debut for India in February 1981 in a Test match against New Zealand at Basin Reserve in Wellington. His ODI debut came later in the year against England.

Shastri showed his class during a Ranji Trophy encounter between Bombay (now Mumbai) and Baroda in January 1985. This encounter took place at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. The three-day contest was heading towards a dull draw in the morning on Day 3.

Ghulam Parkar’s big hundred in the first innings helped Bombay reach 371/4 before they declared. An unbeaten century from Suresh Keshwala took Baroda to 33/8 before they declared. Bombay were in a spot of bother at 73/3 at one stage in their second innings. However, Lalchand Rajput and Sunil Gavaskar stitched a 128-run partnership for the fourth wicket to calm the nerves.

After that partnership was broken, Shastri made his way to the center. He was in a destructive mood as he notched up his half-century in just 38 minutes. The right-handed batter made his start count as he reached the magical three-figure mark in just an hour and 11 minutes.

While this was already a special feat, Shastri was far from over. He hit six sixes in an over from Tilak Raj and became only the second batter to do so in top-level cricket after Garfield Sobers. Shastri went on to score his double-century in just 113 minutes. With this, he became the fastest to hit a double-century in first-class cricket. He got to the landmark in just 123 deliveries, taking just 43 balls to get to 200 from 100.

Gavaskar declared the innings at 457 for the loss of five wickets. Shastri remained unbeaten on 200 off 123 balls, hitting 13 fours and as many sixes in his knock. Baroda were reduced to 81/7 before they managed to draw the encounter.