Pranav Dhanawade, a 15-year-old cricketer from Mumbai entered the record books after he became the first player to score over 1000 runs in an innings in any format of cricket. He opened the batting for KC Gandhi School against Arya Gurukul during the HT Bhandari Cup inter-school cricket tournament, which is organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association.
The teenager remained unbeaten on 652 runs scored off 199 balls after the end of days play on Monday (4 January). The Mumbai cricketer broke the 117-year-old record previously held by Arthur Collins, who scored 628* – when he was 13-years-old – in a Junior House Match in June 1899 in England.
Meanwhile, Dhanawade continued his impressive form on Tuesday (5 January) as KC Gandhi School reached a total of 1400 runs. In the process, his team registered the most number of runs scored in an innings, surpassing Victorias 1107 scored against New South Wales way back in 1926.
KC Gandhi School declared after posting a mammoth total of 1465 runs. Dhanawade remained unbeaten on 1009 runs off just 323 balls, which included 59 sixes and 129 boundaries. He admitted that he has always been an aggressive player and never expected to break the record when he came to bat on Monday.
I have always been a big-hitter, Dhanawade was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo. When I started I never thought about breaking the record. The focus was never that. I just played my natural game, which is to attack from the word go.
After reaching 300, my coach Harish Sharma told me to play on. I did not know of the world record, but we had the Indian record [Prithivi Shaws 546] in mind.
Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar was involved in a 664-run partnership with Vinod Kambli, where he scored 326* runs in a Lord Harris Shield inter-school game against St Xaviers High School in 1988. This was a record partnership in any form of cricket, until two teenagers from Hyderabad surpassed it by registering a 721-run partnership.
Dhanawades blistering innings in the inter-school game can see him draw comparison with Tendulkars unbeaten knock of 326 runs, despite scoring over three times more than the former Indian batsman. Mumbai has been a breeding ground for young talent such as Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, who have played commendable cricket for India after making it to the senior team.
Apart from Tendulkar, Mumbai has produced great cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Vijay Merchant, Polly Umrigar and Dilip Vengsarkar. Dhanawade, who saw his name edge into the record books after scoring over 1000 runs in an innings will be hoping to follow the footsteps of these former players and make his way to the Indian team in the future.
