'It won't change much overnight' – Akash Choudhary after shattering FC records

For the first time in nearly 200 years of first-class cricket and over 90 years of the Ranji Trophy, eight sixes were smacked on the trot and a half-century was recorded off just 11 deliveries. Akash Choudhary of Meghalaya pulled off that sensational feat.

"It won't change much overnight," he says. "I still have to keep doing the same things – go out there, bowl for my team, take wickets, and bat according to the situation." The Shillong-born Choudhary stays grounded. "It should boost my confidence," he adds.

In these days of T20 cricket, with an IPL auction around the corner, one might expect Choudhary to be excited about prospects. But he seems unfazed.

"It might help me, but I'm not thinking about it. Because none of that is in my control. I'm just playing cricket and focusing on my performance." He had enrolled for the 2022 auction with a base price of INR 20 lakh and went unsold.

His restricted optimism is understandable since that series of sixes came against Arunachal Pradesh in a Ranji Plate match. "When I saw the batter who went in before us, he was managing to clear straight for six – the wind was in that direction too. The pitch didn't have much bounce, and the ball was coming on nicely. I just thought hitting straight would be the easiest option."

He went past Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri, who had smashed six sixes in an over in first-class cricket.

Choudhary (25) did not know he brought up the fastest half century – off 11 deliveries – in first class cricket, until a BCCI analyst told him at Tea break. "At that time, I was not aware. At the break, the BCCI video analyst told me about it. It felt good. I didn't go in with any plan; I just wanted to bat with positive intent."

Meghalaya were looking to declare on reaching 600. "We wanted to declare our innings as soon as possible, around the 600-run mark, so my aim was just to go out there and express myself." The team went on to comfortably complete an innings win.

A right-arm pacer, he calls himself a bowling all-rounder. He started with tennis ball matches, then inter-school games and regional tournaments before catching the attention of scouts in BCCI/NCA trials for North-East players. He made his debut for the state in all three formats in 2019.

So what next? "Nothing. We just have one league game left (vs Manipur) – and it's an important one for us. If we want to reach the final, we have to do well there. We've already lost two games because of rain, so this last match really matters. As a team, our goal is to move up to the Elite group in all three formats – and stay there."