World record – Mumbai schoolboy scores 1,000 runs

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MUMBAI, Jan 5, (AFP): A Mumbai schoolboy made history on Tuesday when he sensationally became the first ever batsman in any class of cricket to score 1,000 runs in a single innings.

Fifteen-year-old Pranav Dhanawade smashed his way to 1,009 not out off 323 balls as he obliterated a 117-year-old record for the highest number of runs scored in one innings.

Dhanawade, the son of an auto-rickshaw driver, soared past Arthur Collins’ previous record total of 628 in England in 1899, during an inter-school tournament in the western Indian city.

“Congrats #PranavDhanawade 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 legend Sachin Tendulkar posted on Twitter.

Dhanawade’s epic knock included 129 fours and 59 sixes and came at a phenomenal strike rate of 312.38. It ended when his KC Gandhi High School team declared on 1,465 at the ground in Thane, northern Mumbai.

Their opponents, Arya Gurukul, had been bowled out earlier for just 31, according to the Press Trust of India.

Dhanawade’s innings occurred during the Bhandari Cup school tournament, which is officially recognised by the Mumbai Cricket Association.

The teenager, who also plays wicket-keeper, surpassed Collins’ score on Monday, finishing the day on 652, before crossing 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,” Dhanawade told the Hindustan Times after his opening-day knock.

“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 total of 546.

Ayaz Memon, a leading Indian cricket expert, said it would be a phenomenal feat for any cricketer to score four digits at any level of the game.

Players from English county Sussex have been given the week off following the death of team-mate Matt Hobden, coach Mark Davis revealed in a British newspaper interview published on Tuesday.

Fast bowler Hobden was found dead in Scotland on Saturday at the age of 22. Police are investigating his death, which has not yet been explained, but say the circumstances are not suspicious.

“I’ve given the boys a week away to make sure they can gather their thoughts and be around their loved ones, process what’s happened and reflect a little bit as well,” Davis told The Guardian.

“We all met on Sunday morning, after we got the awful news, just to get everyone together. Everyone will grieve in different ways, but it was good to support each other”.

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