 "Pranav Dhanawade and his father hold a cricket bat presented to him by Sachin Tendulkar after his record breaking innings, in Mumbai")
Khadoos” — for most it is a disparaging, abhorrent word that reeks of irreverence. But in Mumbai, that’s one quality every young batsman strives to develop — of being indefatigable, unyielding or, as they like to call it in the colloquial tongue here, “khadoos”. Vijay Merchant was the classic “khadoos” batsman, possessing an almost unquenchable appetite for runs. Several years later, Sunil Gavaskar developed a defence so impregnable that Lord Relator was forced to pen the “Gavaskar Calypso” in his honour after he brought the West Indies down to their knees in 1970-71. Sachin Tendulkar was perhaps the last “khadoos” batsman from the celebrated Mumbai school of batting. Pranav Dhanawade, it seems, is in good company.
This past week, the 15-year-old, playing for K C Gandhi High School, scored an astounding 1,009 runs in a single innings against Arya Gurukul School in an under-16 school game in the Mumbai suburb of Kalyan. The marathon knock saw him eclipse AEJ Collins, who until now held the record for the highest individual score (including minor cricket) in the sport’s history. The 13-year-old Collins had scored 628 while in a house game at Clifton College in England way back in 1899.
Son of an auto-rickshaw driver, Dhanawade received plaudits from Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his remarkable innings. The Indian limited-overs captain marvelled at the young man’s achievement, saying that had he been in his place, he would have simply got bored. “He must be a very special kid,” said Dhoni. On Thursday evening, Dhanawade received an autographed bat from Tendulkar.
“I just wanted to go out and bat. Fortunately, everything fell into place and the runs just kept coming,” says the diffident schoolboy. The United Sports Ground in Kalyan has short boundaries — not more than 30 metres on both the on and off side. And, the Arya Gurukul School team was mainly made up of under-14 players. Their principal had objected to the participation of the senior players since exams were just around the corner.
Even then, Dhanawade’s numbers are absurd. He pummelled the hapless opposition bowling for 129 boundaries and 59 sixes, going at a strike rate of 312.38. “No matter who the opposition, scoring runs is always difficult,” he says. “I’m just delighted that I could stick in there for so long. Dhanawade describes himself as a hard-hitting batsman who likes to play shots all around the wicket.
His coach, Mobin Sheikh, is a proud man. Shiekh says Dhanawade always possessed immense ability, but this innings even took him by surprise. “Whenever he goes out to bat, I tell him to score big. That is the only way you can get noticed,” says Sheikh. “But a four-figure score is absolutely amazing.”
In Mumbai, where thousands of young batsmen toil endlessly every day to make the Ranji team, numbers are what set you apart. “It is easy to get lost here, particularly if you’re from the suburbs. Only big scores can help you play for Mumbai,” says Sheikh. In one blistering innings, Dhanawade now has runs that a batsman would generally score in a whole season. The dustbowls of Mumbai school cricket have an uncanny habit of producing greatness. In Dhanawade, we just may have seen the unearthing of another paranormal talent.
Dhanawade’s next target is to get picked for the Mumbai under-16 side. After his gargantuan feat, Sheikh is hopeful that his pupil has a fair chance of accomplishing that. “He has done the best he could. Let’s see how things go from here. But he can only go up from here,” he says.
Dhanawade’s father, Prashant, despite his meagre income, has always encouraged his son to pursue his dream of becoming a professional cricketer. “Cricket equipment does not come cheap. But I have done my best to support him,” says Prashant. “Hopefully, someone will come up and help us financially.”
The Maharashtra government has already announced that it will foot Dhanawade's coaching and education expenses. He has also been offered a place in the Air India team. For Dhanawade, the dream has just begun.
