I wanted to bat like Sachin, wonder boy says

Dubai: School cricketers from Mumbai often have it in their DNA to go for unreal scores — the list includes Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli or someone like Prithvi Shaw in recent times. However, 15-year-old Pranav Dhanawade stole the thunder from his illustrious predecessors on Tuesday by scoring an unbeaten 1,009 runs in an innings!

Dhanawade became the toast of Indian cricketing fraternity for a day when he became the first player to score 1,000 runs in a single innings for KC Gandhi English High School, Kalyan against local rivals Arya Gurukul School on the final day of their two-day third round match of the Under-16 H.T. Bhandari Trophy Inter-School cricket tournament, being held under the aegis of Mumbai Cricket Association.

Speaking to Gulf News from Mumbai soon after his marathon knock, an ecstatic Dhanawade said: “I am feeling very special. All through my innings, I was thinking about my idol Sachin Tendulkar. I wanted to achieve something like him.”

On hearing about the knock, the Little Master immediately tweeted: “Congrats #PranavDhanawade on being the first ever to score 1,000 runs in an innings. Well done and work hard. You need to scale new peaks!

Reacting to his idol’s tweet, Dhanawade gushed: “I feel so honoured. It is so great of him to have tweeted and I understand that millions have responded to it. It is the greatest feeling for me.”

Opener Dhanawade broke the 117-year-old record for the highest individual score in an innings held by an English cricketer AEJ Collins, who hit an unbeaten 628 for Clark’s House against North Town in 1899. He also went past Prithvi Shaw’s Mumbai record score of 546 for Rizvi Springfield High School against St Francis D’Assisi at Azad Maidan set in 2013-14, and even his idol Tendulkar’s unbeaten 326 and Vinod Kambli’s 349 runs during their record 664 run partnership.

When asked if he had played such a long innings before, Dhanawade said: “I once scored 285 for MIG Club. I have scored many centuries but I am happy I could stay on and hit such a big score.”

Son of an autorickshaw (three-wheeler) driver in Kalyan, he said about his approach during the innings: “All that I did was to concentrate on each ball and score on merit. My aim was to never give my wicket,” he added.

When Gulf News contacted Dhanawade’s coach Mobin Shaikh, he refused to take any credit for the effort. “My role is only five per cent, the rest 95 per cent is due to his hard work. He came to me when he was only five-and-a-half years old. This is a miracle knock and today he made me a coach, a huge reward for 25 years of service as a coach.”

Shaikh, a friend of Sharjah’s Delhi Private School coach Vikram Dutt, went on to say: “The Mayor of Kalyan called to appreciate Dhanawade’s feat and all that I told him is to provide facilities for a good ground for an academy. Kalyan is 60 kilometres away from Mumbai and boys who have to get coaching have to travel in crowded trains to Mumbai. Dhanawade has shown there are many talented cricketers like him here.”

Shaikh, a Central Bank of India employee, grooms many youngsters like Dhanawade at his Modern Cricket Club academy and had not even asked Dhanawade to pay the fee when he came to the club with his father.

Resuming at an overnight score of 652 batting (199 balls, 30x6, 78x4), Dhanawade on Tuesday remained unbeaten on 1,009 — coming in 323 balls, 129 boundaries and 59 sixes after staying at the wicket for 395 minutes. His school declared at a staggering 1,465 for three.

“My goal in life is to play for India. I hope one day I can achieve it too,” said Dhanawade, whose phone has not stopped ringing during the day with messages of congratulations and worldwide media requests.