Dubai: Ronak Panoly is one of the rising stars from UAE schools’ cricket who looks destined for bigger things.
Like some of the current UAE senior national team players such as Amjad Javed, Ahmad Raza and Rameez Shahzad, Panoly has risen from school cricket and is now eyeing a berth in the UAE under-19 team.
Panoly caught the attention as a 12-year-old in 2015 by cracking a century in just 43 balls for Gems Modern Academy in a Maxtalent Global Sports Vision Cup inter-school tournament. From then on every year, he has produced stunning performances in schools cricket and — a whirlwind knock of 256 runs off just 72 balls in the MGS Vision Cup under-14 Twenty20 inter school tournament and followed it up with a knock of 133 runs for Cricket School of Excellence (CSE) Cricket Academy in the Emirates Cricket Board Under-17 inter-academy league to become an automatic selection for the UAE Under-16 team.
In his debut for UAE Under-16 team in the Asian Cricket Council Western Region Under-16 tournament, he amassed 224 runs, which included a century against Maldives.
Speaking to Gulf News, Panoly said: “Everyone in my family loves cricket so I grew up watching and listening to cricket talk. My childhood coach Jairaj Thakur and my school team coach Shafique Ahmad taught me the basics and played a huge role in whatever I am today. I hit my first century when I was 11 years old in the Sundeep Batavia Memorial Under-12 tournament. I won the Man of the Tournament in that tournament and that motivated me to take up cricket seriously. “My 100 off 43 balls in 2015 was a special one because it came after a bad phase. It was coach Shafique who instilled in me the aggressive traits and that quick 100 was a confidence booster. It is this aggressive quality that helped me score quick and hit 256 runs … a special innings that I will remember all my life. Though aggressive, I feel that it is my calmness while approaching the 80s and 90s that has helped me convert my innings into big hundreds.”
Panoly idolises Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. “From childhood, I idolised the great Tendulkar and my current idol is Kohli. Kohli’s hunger for runs and aggression has inspired me and my current aim is to make it to the UAE Under-19 team this year and in the long run represent India,” said Panoly, who keeps a record of all his knocks to motivate himself.
“I have hit 73 half centuries, 27 centuries and a double hundred. I also have won eight best batsman and seven player of the tournament awards. I owe a lot to my present form to an advice from my current coach Obaid Hamid, who taught me how to put a price on my wicket and that helped me lift my game to a higher level. My parents have always been supportive in my cricketing journey.”
A Grade 10 student at Gems Modern Academy, Panoly says: “Representing UAE was a dream. To hit a century and half-century on my international cricket debut is a great confidence booster. I want to score bigger in the coming games too.”
