Wonder-boy Pranav Dhanawade to play in England with Worli CC
Mumbai teenager Pranav Dhanawade, who created history in 2015 by becoming the first cricketer to score more than 1000 runs in an officially recognised match, will face one of his biggest challenges yet in his short but eventful journey so far, as he is set to play nine matches in the testing conditions at Leicester, England, where he will be representing Worli Cricket Club, Hindustan Times reports.
The son of an autorickshaw driver, Pranav went where no cricketer had gone before, reaching the four-figure mark individually, albeit in school level cricket. His marathon innings came while playing for his school side, the KC Gandhi Higher Secondary School against Arya Gurukul in the quarterfinal of the HT Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association during June 2015.
His innings, which lasted 395 minutes, saw him score 1009 runs off just 323 deliveries at a scarcely-unbelievable strike rate of 312.38. The knock, which featured 129 fours and 59 sixes, drew praise and ridicule in equal measure with many praising the teenager's tenacity and persistence while a few felt the knock was not worth it as it came against a side which was not having its main players due to an ongoing school examination.
Controversy followed Pranav later on as well with the selection of Arjun Tendulkar, the son of legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, in the Under-16 West Zone squad. A social media war erupted with many believing the choice was down to non-cricketing issues but the issue sorted itself out after it became clear that Pranav was ineligible for selection as he hadn’t played yet for the Mumbai Under-16 side.
On the cricketing side, Pranav, who had broken the 116-year-old record of 628 not out set by the English schoolboy AEJ Collins in 1899, during the course of his awe-inspiring knock, has been struggling to meet the high expectations that has been bestowed upon his young shoulders since that fateful day. He has been showing a downward trend in his scoring starting with scores of 74 and 156 in the semifinal and later 40 and 20 in the final of the same tournament.
Lean scores in the two matches he played in the Thane Premier League, a 20-over tournament and continuing poor form in the Thosar Trophy, a 45-over tournament, meant Pranav was overlooked for an off-season training camp for Under-19 probables organised by the MCA.
Pranav will be hopeful that the upcoming matches in England propels his back into contention for all the right reasons.