10 December,2010 09:13 AM IST | | Husain M Zaidi
When an umpire praises a performance, it must be special.
"In inter-school cricket there may have been many centuries scored and many wickets taken, but this was certainly the best performance I have seen in a long time," one of the umpires (who did not wish to be named) officiating in yesterday's Giles Shield U-14 tie between Swami Vivekanand Internationalu00a0 School (Borivali) and Hansraj Morarji (Andheri) said of SVIS skipper Anish Chaudhery.
Thirteen-year-old middle-order batsman, Anish scored a brilliant 125 off 155 deliveries and later claimed seven for 30 to trigger Hansraj Morarji's collapse for a mere 99, chasing 150.
Needless to say, the teenager was happy with his achievement, but the fact that it was his first century off a bat he got autographed by none other than Sachin Tendulkar, doubled his joy.
"We were attending the Mumbai U-14 camp at the Bandra-Kurla Complex ground and Sachin had come there to practice. I requested him to sign on my bat and he happily obliged," said Anish.
Currently in his fourth Giles Shield tournament, it's his last chance to book a berth in Mumbai's U-14 squad, Anish is keen to make it count.
"I've not been able to make it beyond the 25 probables. I hope I can this time," he said.
