Pranav Dhanawade says he played his natural game, which is to attack from the word go.A Mumbai schoolboy made history on Tuesday when he became the first batsman in any class of cricket to score 1,000 runs in a single innings.
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar praised Pranav Dhanawade, 15, who smashed 1,009 not out off 323 balls during an inter-school tournament in the western Indian city.
Pranav, the son of a rickshaw driver, demolished a 117-year-old record for the highest number of runs scored in one innings. He soared past Arthur Collins’ previous record total of 628, made in England in 1899.
“Congrats Pranav Dhanawade on being the first ever to score 1,000 runs in an innings. Well done and work hard. You need to scale new peaks!” Indian batting great Tendulkar posted on Twitter.
Pranav’s epic knock included 129 fours and 59 sixes and came at a phenomenal strike rate of 312.38. It ended when his K. C. Gandhi High School team declared after scoring 1,465 runs.
Their opponents, Arya Gurukul, had been bowled out earlier for just 31, according to the Press Trust of India.
Pranav’s innings, which lasted 395 minutes, came during the Bhandari Cup school tournament, which is officially recognised by the Mumbai Cricket Association.
The teenager, who is also a wicket-keeper, surpassed Collins’ score on Monday, finishing the day on 652. He crossed the 1,000 mark after lunch on Tuesday.
“I have always been a big hitter. When I started I never thought about breaking the record,” Pranav said.
“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 in mind,” he added, referring to the previous highest national individual total of 546.
Pranav’s monumental achievement sent Twitter into a frenzy. His name trended in India, with excited but also nervous cricket fans posting regular score updates as he neared the 1,000 mark.
Ayaz Memon, a cricket expert, said it was a phenomenal feat for a cricketer to score 1,000 at any level of the game.
“It’s just incredible. Scoring 1,000 runs in less than two days at this speed is a great achievement,” Memon said.
But translating this accomplishment from school to international level will be a big challenge for the teenager, he said.
The omens are good, however. Tendulkar, Pranav’s batting hero, first burst onto the scene in 1988 aged 14 when he scored 326 not out in a Mumbai school match.
He went on to become the highest scorer in the history of Test cricket as well as the first player to score 100 international centuries.
“[The] numbers are just unbelievable. Another Sachin [the legend] in the making?” tweeted Indian international spin bowler Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday.
Collins, who was born in India, was aged just 13 when he entered the record books for his score at Clifton College in Bristol, where a plaque honours his exploits.