Two months ago Zol slammed an unbeaten 451 against Assam in Nasik, which many snidely called a ‘fluke’.

But what followed set him apart from the rest. Since his record-breaking innings (451 n.o; versus Assam), the opening batsman has slammed 121 and 225 in the semifinals against Himachal Pradesh to go with his earlier scores of 90, 292, 176 and 82.

“People might say that one big innings happened because it was my day or it was a mere fluke. But once you get big scores consistently, then you send out a clear message. This season, I tried to push myself for big scores and thankfully it happened,” the opener explains.

Zol is at ease playing fast bowlers. This has much to do with the place where he comes from — Jalna in Marathwada - an eight-hour drive from Pune. There are no turf-wickets back home and all net practices are conducted on matting tracks. Even local competitions are played on matting, which means batsmen are used to playing on wickets on which the ball skids.

“Have you been to Jalna?” he asks. “We don’t have any facilities there. I think many people don’t know where the place is.”

To make sure he is well-prepared, his father Hari built a small pitch behind his home. Zol had chosen cricket over his SSC examinations and dropped out from school.