MUMBAI, January 5 (Reuters): Maharashtra schoolboy Pranav Dhanawade rewrote the record books on Tuesday, hammering an epic 1009 not out in an inter-school cricket tournament to register the highest individual score in an innings in any form of the game.
The 15-year-old smashed 129 fours and clobbered 59 sixes in his staggering 323-ball knock played over two days before his team, KC Gandhi School, declared their innings on a staggering 1465 for two. An admirer of India's limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dhanawade's monumental knock drew praise from batting great Sachin Tendulkar.
"Congrats #PranavDhanawade on being the first ever to score 1000 runs in an innings. Well done and work hard. You need to scale new peaks!" tweeted the former India captain.
Dhanawade, who opened the innings against Arya Gurukul School, had gone past Arthur Collins' 628 not out, the previous highest in minor cricket scored in 1899 in England, on Monday.
The son of an autorickshaw driver, Dhanawade had also gone past the highest individual score by an Indian in minor cricket, a record previously held by Prithvi Shaw who scored 546 in the Harris Shield in 2013-14.
"I have always been a big-hitter," Dhanawade told the Hindustan Times after Monday's play.
"When I started I never thought about breaking the record. 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 (Shaw's 546) in mind."
Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh hail Pranav Dhanawade for record-breaking innings
Mumbai, January 5 (IANS): Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to congratulate Mumbai school cricketer Pranav Dhanawade for his record-breaking innings of 1,009 not out in an H.T. Bhandari Cup Under-16 inter-school tournament clash.
Pranav's epic 323-ball knock consisted of a staggering 59 sixes and 129 fours. His team, K.C. Gandhi High School, declared their innings at 1465/6 with Pranav remaining unbeaten at 1,009.
He batted for 395 minutes and had a strike rate of 312.38. The youngster broke a 116-year-old record after surpassing 652 on Monday, thus taking over the reins of the highest individual score (including minor cricket) from A.E.J. Collins of England.
On Monday, the teenager also crossed Prithvi Shaw's innings of 546 scored two years ago in a Harris Shield match, an innings that had previously been the highest individual score in any form of cricket in India.
"Congrats #PranavDhanawade on being the first ever to score 1000 runs in an innings. Well done and work hard. You need to scale new peaks!," Tendulkar posted on his Twitter handle.
Harbhajan was equally effusive in his praise for the wonder kid. "well played...no matter what levels cricket it is but numbers are just unbelievable.another @sachin_rt in making?," he tweeted. Former India Test opener Aakash Chopra wrote on Twitter: "Pranav Dhanawade has scored 1000 runs in an innings...well played, son???? Request to media -- please leave him alone??"
Commentator Alan Wilkins tweeted: "The numbers for Pranav Dhanawade are mind-numbing! 1009 from 323 balls. 59x6s, 129x4s. 870 runs in boundaries! Did anyone in Mumbai see it?"
