Maharashtra’s pair of Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne came very close to breaking the all-time record for the highest partnership for any wicket in first-class cricket during their Ranji Trophy match against Delhi at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

On Thursday, Maharashtra had won the toss and elected to bat first. The decision didn’t look great when Harshad Khadiwale and Chirag Khurana were dismissed for 10 and 4 respectively, with Maharashtra’s score at 41/2.

That was when Bawne joined Gugale in the middle and the duo batted throughout the rest of the day. At the end of day one, Maharashtra’s score read 290/2 with both Gugale and Bawne reaching their centuries.

The two of them resumed batting on day two with a similar mindset and were not caused much trouble by the Delhi bowlers on a flat Wankhede pitch.

Maharashtra had scored 635/2 when the declaration finally came with Gugale and Bawne adding 594 runs for the third wicket. Gugale and Bawne were unbeaten on 351 and 258 respectively.

In the process, the duo broke the record for the highest partnership for any wicket in Ranji Trophy history. The previous record was a long-standing one, held by Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad who put on 577 runs for the fourth wicket for Baroda against Holkar in the last Ranji Trophy final before India’s independence in 1947.

Gugale and Bawne also had the opportunity of breaking the all-time record for the highest partnership ever in a first-class match.

When Gugale – who is Maharashtra’s captain in place of Kedar Jadhav who is in India’s ODI squad to face New Zealand – declared, the pair were just 30 runs short of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene’s record.

Sangakkara and Jayawardene had put on 624 during their epic partnership against South Africa at Colombo (SSC) in 2006, with the former scoring 287 and the latter 374.

Later, Gugale admitted that he had no idea about the record and he has some regret over missing out on the opportunity.

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, he said: “I had nearly 100 missed calls and 200 messages. It was only as I went through them one by one did I realise we were 30-odd short of the world-record partnership in first-class cricket. So there’s a tinge of regret. Maybe I could have declared after the record, but the decision was mine alone so I can’t complain.”