[3] He is regarded as the founder of the Bombay School of Batsmanship,[4] that placed more importance on right technique, steely temperament, and conservative approach rather than free flow of the bat.

[8] Throughout his career, Merchant was involved in a rivalry with the other great Indian batsman of the era, Vijay Hazare, with each trying to better the scores of the other.

[9] In the 1943 Bombay Pentangular final against the Rest, Merchant bettered Hazare's tournament record score of 248, set in the previous match against the Muslims, with 250 not out.

[10][11] Less than a month later, Merchant topped that by amassing 359 not out against Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy,[12] setting a then record for the highest score in Indian first-class cricket.

Despite facing difficulty against swing bowling when the ball moved away after pitching on the leg stump, he scored 2,385 runs including seven centuries in the 41 innings he batted, at an average of 74.53.

It was broadcast on Sunday afternoons[year needed],[15] on Vividh Bharati, Anu D. Aggarwal quotes a survey, which revealed that it was one of the most listened to sponsored programmes.

The record stood until November 2017, when Cheteshwar Pujara scored his twelfth double-century batting for Saurashtra against Jharkhand in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy.