Sachin Tendulkar gifts his autographed bat to Pranav Dhanawade
In a rare gesture of appreciation, former Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar gifted his own autographed bat to the latest hero in the Indian cricket circles, Pranav Dhanawade. The youngster, who hit a stunning 1009*, took the entire cricketing world by storm, and received widespread applause. The Maharashtra government had even offered to sponsor his education as well as his cricket coaching.
Pranav Dhanawade of KC Gandhi School had scored a whopping 1009* in 323 balls against Arya Gurukul School, a feat which was never before achieved in any form of cricket’s illustrious history. On this incredible feat, Sachin had wished him on Twitter and advised the youngster to work hard.
The 15-year-old, whose father is an autorickshaw driver, had resumed at an overnight score of 652* and played with similar mindset and attitude. His team finally declared when the score was 1465, off which Pranav alone had hit 1009.
Dhanawade became the fourth Indian to score 500 or more runs in a single innings after DR Havewalla (515 for Central India Railways, Bombay against St Xavier’s, Baroda in 1953), Chaman Lal (502 not out for Mahendra College, Patiala against Government College, Rupar in 1956-57) and Prithvi Shaw (546 for Rizvi Springfield against Francis D’Assisi in a Harris Shield game in 2013-14).
The 15-year old, in his own words, had said that Sachin was his idol. “Sachin is my batting idol, I am a wicketkeeper so my wicketkeeping idol is Australia’s Brad Haddin.” The youngster’s performance impressed Sachin, who gifted him an autographed bat.