Who is Swastik Samal? All you need to know about Odisha opener who smashed double-ton in VHT
Odisha opener Swastik Samal smashed a double-hundred in the Vijay Hazare Trophy clash against Saurashtra on December 24.
New Delhi: Swastik Samal created history in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, smashing the fifth-highest score of the tournament's history on Wednesday, December 24. The Odisha opener scored a brilliant 212 runs off 169 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy clash against Saurashtra in Alur.
He became the first Odisha batter in the history of List A cricket to hit a double century. He surpassed the score of 203, which was made by the Mumbai opener Yashasvi Jaiswal against Jharkhand in 2019. His knock helped Odisha to score 345/6 in 50 overs against Saurashtra.
The opener was part of the IPL 2026 mini-auction along with teammate Rajesh Mohanty, but didn't find any buyers. The 25-year-old opener got his team off to a great start before Ankur Panwar dismissed OM for 4 runs. Sandeep Pattanaik and Govind Poddar also failed to make any contribution with the bat as Odisha stumbled to 59/3 in 11.5 overs.
The opener then batted with great resilience and stitched a 261-run partnership with Biplab Samantaray for the fourth wicket. Skipper Samantaray also notched up a hundred in 91 balls with the help of seven boundaries and three maximums.
Chirag Jani dismissed Samal on the fourth ball of the last over. He smashed 21 boundaries and eight maximums during his sensational knock. This was Samal's 14th List A appearance for Odisha, and he became the 14th Indian cricketer to smash a List A double century.
Highest scores in Vijay Hazare Trophy
N Jagadeesan – 277 runs off 141 balls vs Arunachal, 21 November 2022
Prithvi Shaw – 227* runs off 152 balls vs Puducherry, 25 February 2021
Ruturaj Gaikwad – 220* runs off 159 balls vs Uttar Pradesh, 28 November 2022
Sanju Samson – 212* runs off 129 balls vs Goa, 12 October 2019
Swastik Samal – 212 runs off 169 balls vs Saurashtra, 24 December 2025*
Who is Swastik Samal?
Swastik Samal was born on July 27, 2000, and hails from Koraput, Odisha. The right-handed batter was dismissed for a two-ball duck on his T20 debut against Mizoram in February 2019. He has now scored 362 runs in 13 T20 matches at a strike rate of 160.88, including one century and two fifties.
He made his List A debut against Haryana in October 2019, but could only manage to score a run-a-ball 12. Ahead of the big knock against Saurashtra, he had 309 runs from 10 matches with three half-centuries to his name.
Samal made his first-class debut against Haryana in December 2022, but scored just one run in the only innings he batted in. He currently has notched up 686 runs from 12 matches, including two hundreds and three half-centuries.