India greats say don’t knock Mumbai boy’s 1,009 record

Dhoni, Rahane hail teen’s achievement

MUMBAI, Jan 7, (AFP): A Mumbai teenager’s record-breaking 1,009 not out wasn’t the match’s only startling statistic — one of the boundaries was only 30 yards long, while the opposition was so meagre that one bowler conceded 142 runs in just six overs.

Fifteen-year-old Pranav Dhanawade also reportedly escaped 21 dropped catches on his way to obliterating a 117-year-old world record for runs scored in a single innings earlier this week.

But India’s cricket establishment said doubts about the quality of the opposing team, most of whom were only 12 and not used to playing with hard cricket balls, should not detract from Dhanawade’s historymaking knock.

“You have to acknowledge that what he has done is absolutely

In reply, Danushka Gunathilaka made 46 and Milinda Siriwardana 42 to help Sri Lanka keep things close into the final over. But Grant Elliott held his nerve and bowled a steady last over that saw Sri Lanka lose two wickets and fall just short at 179-9.

Sri Lanka, the world’s top-ranked Twenty20 team, seemed out of the match when it slumped to 42-4 in the fifth over after losing Tillakaratne Dilshan (0), Dinesh Chandimal (7), Shehan Jayasuriya (4) and Angelo Mathews (4) in quick succession. But Gunathilaka and Siriwardana battled back to help the visitors slowly creep into contention, needing just 44 runs in the last five overs to win with four wickets in hand.

Siriwardana was then dismissed in the 17th over when Sri Lanka was 153-7, leaving it up to Chamara Kapugedera and Nuwan Kulasekara to maintain the chase.

With Sri Lanka needing 19 runs from the final 12 balls, Williamson had used up all of his frontline bowlers and was forced to turn to Elliott, the star of New Zealand’s successful campaign at last year’s ICC World Cup.

After allowing only a two and a leg bye off his first two balls, Elliott dismissed Kulasekara and then squeezed Kapugedera, who was run out next ball, to help New Zealand clinch a tight win.

“I thought at the halfway stage score 1,000 runs in one innings.

He soared past Arthur Collins’ previous record of 628 runs, recorded in England in 1899, on Monday and reached the four-digit mark on Tuesday in an innings lasting 395 minutes.

His KC Gandhi High School team eventually declared on 1,465 for three — after their opponents, Arya Gurukul, had been bowled out for just 31 in the inter-school match.

Two other KC Gandhi batsmen scored centuries, 173 and 137 respectively, but have barely received a mention.

Arya Gurukul’s bowling statistics made for grim reading — one bowler gave away 284 runs for nought, while another took two wickets but at the cost of 352 runs.

In their second innings, Arya Gurukul made 52 and KC Gandhi won the match by an innings and 1,382 runs.

The losing side’s coach, Yogesh Jagtap, told the Mumbai Mirror that he had cobbled together a team of 12-year-olds for the under-16s match because many first-team regulars were busy with exams.

“We were playing only for commitment,” he told the tabloid, revealing that some of his players were more used to fielding with tennis balls and had yet to overcome their fear of the leather ball.

But Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of India in the short forms of the game, warned critics not to play down Dhanawade’s achievement.

“Scoring 1,009 runs is not a joke. It’s a tremendous effort and shows a glimpse of talent,” he told reporters ahead of India’s departure for their tour of Australia.

Indian international Ajinkya Rahane agreed.

“This is a very big thing to bat for one-and-a-half days and needs immense concentration and focus,” the Press Trust of India quoted him as saying.

Dhanawade has barely had time to catch his breath since making history. He’s been inundated with media requests and feted by politicians and well-wishers.

But his father told AFP the fame wasn’t going to his son’s head.

“We have not been able to sleep properly for two days but the attention will fade soon,” said Prashant Dhanawade.

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