Mumbai teenager Pranav Dhanawade on Tuesday made history by becoming the first batsman who ever to notch up a four-figure score by smashing an unbeaten knock of 1009 in an inter-school tournament in Mumbai.
The 15-year-old, playing for KC Gandhi Higher Secondary School, reached the gigantic score in just 323 deliveries with a strike rate of 312.38 in the game against Arya Gurukul in the Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).
In the course of his awe-inspiring innings, which lasted 395 minutes, Dhanawade smashed a whopping 129 fours and 59 sixes.
The epic knock ended when his school declared at 1465, which is also a world record. His school went past Victoria’s 1107 against New South Wales made way back in 1926.
Pranav now holds the record for the highest individual score in any form of cricket, bettering AEJ Collins’ 628 not out for Clark’s House against North Town in 1899 in the UK.
The 10th standard boy is a ward of experienced MCA coach Mobin Sheikh and the only child of an autorickshaw driver.
The mammoth score was in reply to their rivals’ paltry score of 31 all out in 17 overs, at the Vaylengar ground at Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district.
Dhanawade, who was unbeaten on 652 last evening, thus became the world’s highest individual scorer in all forms of cricket.
During the course of his innings on Monday, he went past the highest individual score of 546 in Indian schools cricket standing in the name of another Mumbai cricketer, Prithvi Shaw of Rizvi Springfield made against St Francis D’Assissi in the Harris Shiled game in 2013.
“Dhanawade is with me from the age of six. His feat would give a strong boost to cricket in this area. We have lot of talent in and around Kalyan but lack of proper facilities has hampared it.
“Today (former India captain and MCA Vice President) Dilip Vengsarkar came and promised an academy here if he is provided with the ground and our local MLA promised to provide him wherever he wanted it,” said Sheikh.
“It’s a proper ground for an under 16 game and the tournament is an MCA-recognised tournament. I was very happy with the opposing team, and the way they approached the game,” added the 50-year-old Central Bank of India employee who has been an MCA coach for several years.
For many cricket fans in India, the knock recalled memories of the 664-run partnership between cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli during an inter-school tournament in February 1988.
