Dubai: Aryan Thapar and Ethan Jud, a pair of young teens, turned heads in Dubai when they put together a record opening partnership 344 runs in the first edition of Maxtalent-organized Junior Challenge Cup earlier this week. Thapar (173) and Jud (129) of Desert Cub Cricket DPS raked up a total of 344 without loss off 20 overs, which helped their team thrash Spring Sports Academy (Cheetah) by a margin of 229 runs.
The duo’s contribution was 302 runs from the bat, while the rest came in extras. In the absence of any formal records, it’s being debated if the partnership is the highest for any wicket in an inter-academy event.
Both Thapar and Jud are known faces in the age-group cricket and they set the Kent College pitch on fire. Thapar’s 173 not out coming from 67 balls, including 21 hits to the fence and 11 sixes, Springs Academy innings folded up for 115 in reply with Maanasa Makesh top scoring 22.
“It is indeed no surprise as the current power-hitting on display by the international stars motivate the young ones to chance their arms. The coaches are also now encouraging youngsters to freely express themselves,” remarked Sudhakar Shetty, the Director and brain behind Maxtalent Academy.
The 12-team tournament has so far seen four centuries. Incidentally, Maxtalent has often provided the platform for young talents to come up with extraordinary feats - the most remarkable of them being a blistering 256 off 72 balls from Ronak Panoly of GEMS Modern School in 2017.
