By Ankit Kumar | Updated: November 23, 2025 7:14 AM IST
The name itself speaks volumes – Vijay means victory, and Hazare means thousand. And a man named Vijay Hazare was bound to have high expectations in cricket. He became the first Indian batsman to reach 1,000, then 2,000 runs in Test cricket. But before these achievements, in 1943, he played an innings that still leaves cricket fans reeling.
In the final of the 1943 Pentangular Tournament, the Hindu team posted a mammoth total of 581/5. Vijay Merchant remained at the crease with 250* and Hemu Adhikari with 186. Vijay Hazare bowled 51 overs in that innings and took three wickets. When it came to batting, he scored 59 runs, but the rest of the team’s batsmen faltered badly, and the last eight wickets combined could add only 30 runs. A follow-on was inevitable.
The second innings started even worse — 14/2, then 60/5. The opposition was already ready to celebrate victory. Then Vivek Hazare — Vijay’s brother, whom very few people knew — arrived at the crease. But from this moment began a partnership that would make history in cricket.
The third day’s play ended, and Vijay and Vivek remained unbeaten. The partnership stood at 129 runs, with Vivek on just 14 while Vijay was on 125*. It was a rare partnership in which one batsman was constantly climbing the mountain while the other simply stood by.
The next morning, Vijay Hazare produced something that is still remembered in Mumbai cricket circles. He single-handedly scored 122 runs before lunch. When Vivek was dismissed, the partnership broke at 300 — Vivek 21, Vijay 279. Nine bowlers were tried, even Mankad and Merchant bowled, but Vijay proved impossible to stop.
In the end, the remaining four batsmen collapsed at 0, 1, 0, and 1*. Vijay Hazare fought alone and was finally dismissed for 309. The team’s second innings ended at 387 — meaning he alone scored 309 of the team’s 354 runs while he was at the crease, accounting for 87.3 percent of the runs. Despite this, the team lost by an innings and 61 runs. This has rarely happened in cricket history.
Vijay Hazare’s first-class average is 58.38 — better than Sachin, Dravid, Gavaskar, and Kohli. His bowling average is 24.61 — better than Kapil, Srinath, and Shami. 30 Tests, 7 centuries, and two centuries against Lindwall and Miller in Adelaide. But the 1943 innings wasn’t just about records — it was about passion. When the rest of the team crumbled, Vijay Hazare fought alone. The team may have lost, but his innings will always be a triumph.