Mumbai teenager Pranav Dhanawade, who scripted history with an unbeaten knock of 1009 in January this year, has now got an opportunity to train and play alongside senior Indian cricketers like Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, among other members of the Air India team
Pranav Dhanawade
Pranav Dhanawade
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Mumbai teenager Pranav Dhanawade, who scripted history with an unbeaten knock of 1009 in January this year, has now got an opportunity to train and play alongside senior Indian cricketers like Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, among other members of the Air India team. The 16-year-old batsman was handed a scholarship yesterday by former Test cricketer Pravin Amre, also Senior Assistant General Manager with Air India.
After Cheteshwar Pujara and Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar, Dhanawade becomes the third Indian cricketer in recent times to win a scholarship by Air India. "It's the right time for him to proceed from the boys to the men's world. There he can face reality. You have to work really hard to wear the Mumbai cap in any age group. That's why we are going to train him. Air India has experienced players and they will be there to support him, so that will be helpful for him to improve as a cricketer," Amre told mid-day yesterday.
Playing for KC Gandhi Higher Secondary School, Dhanawade reached the gigantic score in just 323 deliveries in the Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament. "I never expected that one day a team like Air India will give me this opportunity. It's a big chance to play and train with Test players. I am eager to learn from the experts and will try to live up to their expectations," Dhanawade said.
It was only after Dhanawade's record-breaking feat that the MCA rewarded him with a scholarship of R10,000 per month for the next five years. Barring the scholarship, Dhanawade was totally ignored and never got a chance to train under the guidance of MCA coaches.
"He only got a chance to train during an Under-19 MCA summer camp in Kalyan where I was coaching the kids. MCA never paid attention on his training neither tracked his improvement for almost 11 months. I'm relieved that Pranav has got this opportunity to train under experienced coaches," Dhanawade's coach Mobin Shaikh
remarked.
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