Pranav Dhanawade is living a dream. The 15-year-old Mumbaikar has been the biggest news maker after his stupendous knock of 1009 runs in an under-16 inter school cricket match in Kalyan, Mumbai on Tuesday. In the process, he became the first person to score 1000 runs. He also broke the 117-year-old record held by an Englishman AEJ Collins, who hit an unbeaten 628 for Clark’s House against North Town in 1899.
An avid Sachin Tendulkar fan, Pranav got his “reward” when the batting legend presented him with a bat and even tweeted for him “I cannot believe that Sachin sir presented me with a bat after my feat.. It feels so great—someone whom you have grown up admiring coming out and giving his bat to me there are no words to describe this,” he said.
For the record, Pranav, a student of KC Gandhi High School, Kalyan scored this mammoth knock against Arya Gurukul in he HT Bhandari Trophy inter school cricket tournament. His epoch making knock had the entire Indian cricket fraternity sit up and take notice. ODI captain MS Dhoni had words of praise for the
When asked whether he had ever expected to score the four figure mark, Pranav said that when he came into bat, he did not have any great expectations. ‘I must be honest in saying that I did not clue that I would be scoring this much. When I stepped into bat, all I wanted was that I could give a good account of myself,” said the ever modest Mumbaikar.
Incidentally, Pranav’s previous highest score was a 285 – he scored that last year for his club MIG. “My previous best score was 285 . I have scored quite a bit of centuries before but this time around I was able to concentrate on not getting dismissed. This I felt was the major difference between my this knocks and the previous ones,” said Pranav.
When asked who was the inspiration behind his epoch making knock, Pranav said that it was Sachin. “From the time I started playing the game, I used to look upon him as my idol. I used to watch most of his matches in any part of the world— and would also try to emulate his shots— like the straight drive and the pull,” said Pranav.
When queried to describe a day is life was, Pranav said that his day started quite early. “I get up at 4.30 ambefore getting ready to go through a long and ardous day/. The days where he does not play matches he concentrates on stroke production and feet movement. “Apart from these two facets, I also work on my physical conditioning which is so important for a batsman. During match days I try to get as much sleep before and after the match,” he said.
When asked whether he got the required sleep after his four figure knock, Pranav joking said that he needed to catch up on his sleep. ‘I did not get much sleep after that knock on Tuesday. (He was mobbed by TV reporters and print media for nearly two days). I never knew that my one knock would make me so famous,” he revealed.
Scholarship for Pranav
A day after Mumbai school cricketer Pranav Dhanawade scored a world record of 1,009 not out in an H.T. Bhandari Cup Under-16 inter-school tournament match, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) announced a scholarship of Rs.10,000 per month for the 15-year-old. “Honorable president Sharad Pawar, on behalf of the Mumbai Cricket Association, has announced a scholarship of Rs.10,000 per month to Mr Pranav Dhanawade for scoring a World Record 1009 runs in a single innings,” the MCA said in a release on Wednesday.
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