Jabalpur Lions’ Ajay Rohera scored a scintillating 51 runs off 41 balls on the MPL 2026 7th match against Indore Pink Panthers at the Holkar Stadium on Saturday. His strike rate of 125 included four fours and two sixes, helped the Lions chase down 148 easily in 18 overs.
Winning the toss, Jabalpur Lions opted to bowl first. Pankaj Patel and Rahul Batham wreaked havoc, dismantling the Indore Pink Panthers batting lineup at regular intervals, restricting them to just 148. Venkatesh Iyer carried his IPL 2026 form forward as he was the highest scorer from the Panthers with 33 runs in 40 balls. The captain had no such help from the other batters to build a stable partnership. Coming down to the ball, although Arpit Gaud was dismissed within 7 balls for a duck, Ajay Rohera and Ritik Tada’s quickfire innings helped Jabalpur to easily chase the total, winning by 5 wickets and registering their first win of the season.
Who is Ajay Rohera?
Ajay Rohera is an Indian wicket-keeper batsman who plays domestic cricket for Madhya Pradesh. He made his List A debut for Madhya Pradesh in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2018.
He holds a spot in cricket history by setting a world record for the highest individual score on a First-Class debut. Representing Madhya Pradesh, the right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman smashed an unbeaten 267 off 341 balls against Hyderabad in December 2018, breaking Amol Muzumdar's 24-year-old record of 260. While Bihar’s Sakibul Gani later surpassed this with a triple-century in 2022, Rohera's knock remains the highest score by an opening batsman on First-Class debut and the all-time highest individual score for Madhya Pradesh. Despite having a relatively brief T20 career, he holds a century (105) in the shortest format, with a strike rate of `137.
