16 January,2009 02:31 PM IST | | A Correspondent
WHEN a master speaks, the effect can be magical. A brief pep talk from Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar during the Mumbai under-14 probables camp at the BKC indoor centre last year seems to be doing wonders for 13-year-old Parikshit Valsangkar.
Parikshit starred with 367 runs to help IES VN Sule Guruji (Dadar) thump St Mary's SSC (Mazgaon) by an innings and 375 runs in the quarter-finals of the MSSA Giles Shield inter-school cricket tournament yesterday.
Parikshit was obviously excited about his maiden triple ton. "It is my best innings. Sachin Sir and (Mumbai selector )Shishir Hattangadi Sir interacted with us briefly at BKC last year. It was a great experience. We got to interact with them personally and it really helped.
"You require great concentration to score a triple ton. And interacting with them helped in that aspect. I kept in mind what they had said and my concentration has improved a lot," Parikshit said, who has been playing cricket for the last four years.
The right-hander also credited Sule Guruji's coach Gopal Koli. "He has worked very hard on my batting. He had extra net sessions to improve my technique," he added.
Brief scores: IES V N Sule Guruji (Dadar): 1st Inn 650-4 (Parikshit Valsangkar 367, Omprakash Jaiswal 131, Vishal Nag 100) beat St Mary's SSC (Mazgaon) 1st Inn 122 all out (Omkar Jadhav 4-9) 2nd Inn 153 all out (Mihiru00a0Desai 58'; Parikshit Valsangkar 3-35)
