Who is Prakhar Chaturvedi, the guy from Karnataka who achieves a historic milestone by scoring unbeaten 404 in the Cooch Behar Final?

Prakhar Chaturvedi comes from a family that places a strong emphasis on education. His mother works as a scientist for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and his father is a software developer in Bangalore. In addition to his love of cricket, Chaturvedi has also been taught the importance of putting academics first. 

In the ongoing season that he missed the India Under-19 World Cup bus, Chaturvedi made a stunning comeback from being left out of the Under-19 squad to start the season and now has the chance to play for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy as a member of the senior team. An 11-year-old Chaturvedi first began training at the age of 6, under Jeshwant in 2017. It was not until after the Covid-19 pandemic that he began making heads turn.

Chaturvedi opened the innings and stayed not out at 404 runs, as he batted Mumbai out of the match and won the game with a first-inning lead. After 223 overs of batting, Karnataka scored 890 for 8, replying to Mumbai's 380 all out on the second day. Throughout his innings, Chaturvedi faced 638 balls and struck 46 fours and three sixes.

Prakhar Chaturvedi: A new Brain Lara in making

He surpassed Yuvraj Singh's 24-year-old record of 358, the previous highest individual score in the tournament final. The young opener is in at No. 2 on the list of highest individual scores in the tournament, after Vijay Zol's 451 not out for Maharashtra against Assam in the 2011-12 season. 

The Cooch Behar Trophy has been crucial in identifying and developing new cricket players around the country by giving them a stage on which to demonstrate their skills and possibly open doors to advancement in the game. Live coverage of the 2024 final, which included Prakhar Chaturvedi's incredible performance, allowed cricket fans to see the start of a possible future star in Indian cricket. Prakhar has one more year of the Under-19s, and might not like the bus this time as he would love to seal the opportunity in the Indian team for the following year and make a name for his talent.