A day after batting prodigy Pranav Dhanawade scored a world-record 1,009 runs in an innings in an inter-school match, the Mumbai Cricket Association on Wednesday announced a monthly scholarship of Rs.10,000 for five years, starting this month.
A student class X, 15-year Dhanawade comes from a poor background. He is the only child of an auto-rickshaw driver.
Opening the innings for KC Gandhi English High School (Kalyan), near Mumbai, Dhanawade faced 323 balls, 395 minutes, 129 boundaries and 59 sixes, at a strike rate of 312.38 in the two-day match of the HT Bhandary Challenge Trophy Inter-School Tournament, organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association.
Thanks to his Dhanawade’s superb innings, KC Gandhi English High School thrashed Arya Gurukul School by an innings and 1,362 runs in the two-day match played at the Vaylengar ground at Kalyan in Mumbai’s neighbouring Thane district.
The Mumbai Cricket Association in a statement said that during the period of the scholarship, which also aims to meet Dhanawade’s educational requirements, it would monitor the player’s progress.
“President Sharad Pawar, on behalf of the Mumbai Cricket Association, has announced a scholarship of Rs.10,000 per month to Mr. Pranav Dhanawade for scoring a world-record 1,009 runs in a single innings,” the press release said.
“The said scholarship will be paid for a period of five years, commencing from January 2016, to December 2021. The association will monitor the cricketing and educational activities of Mr. Pranav Dhanawade for the said period,” it stated.
Dhanawade broke the existing world record for the highest individual score in any form of representative cricket held by AEJ Collins’ 628 not out for Clark’s House against North Town in Clifton College in 1899 in England.
Thanks to Dhanawade’s knock, K.C. Gandhi English School declared their only innings at 1465 for 3 – also a world record for the highest total in an innings in an organised cricket match.