Nayyar quits first-class cricket

Rajeev Nayyar, the Himachal Pradesh batsman who holds the record for the longest first-class innings, has announced his retirement following a first-class career that spanned 20 years.

"I am sad about it," Nayyar told UNI. "What I have missed, I want to achieve it now by imparting training to the Himachal youngsters."

Nayyar played 96 first-class games, scoring 6881 runs at an average of 44.97 including 20 centuries. Nayyar, though, will be remembered for his record-breaking feat in 1999-2000, when he batted for 1015 minutes for his 728-ball 271 against Jammu & Kashmir in Chamba, his home town.

Nayyar became the first batsman to play for 1000 minutes in a first-class innings; the previous best was Hanif Mohammad's 970, during his 337 not out in a Test against West Indies in Barbados in 1957-58.

Nayyar also played 50 one-dayers, scoring 1141 runs at 32.60. A former HP captain, Nayyar's last first-class match was against Goa in Panaji in January 2006.