Tanishq Gavate from Mumbai smashes 1045 in school game

What's the story?

Mumbai boy Tanishq Gavate hammered 1045 runs in an Under-14 Navi Mumbai Shield invitational cricket tournament for school teams at Kopar Khairane, Navi Mumbai yesterday. Had it been an official match, the teenager's score would have eclipsed the world record of an individual score in school cricket.

In case you didn't know..

The official record of the highest score by a batsman at the school level currently belongs to Pranav Dhanawade, who had hit a massive 1009 runs from merely 327 deliveries in 2016 as a fifteen-year-old for his school team, KC Gandhi School in Kalyan.

That had broken a 117-year old record: the previous highest score of 628* was made by Arthur Collins, when he was only 13.

But Gavate, also 13, got to the magical figure of 1045 from only 515 balls, wherein he whacked as many as 149 fours and 67 sixes.

The heart of the matter

Gavate was representing Yashwantrao Chavan XI in the tournament in which he fired those runs, a team which consisted of only players from the academy run by his coach. His innings came in the semi-final of the tournament, and ironically, it was against the very school in which he studies — Yashwantrao Chavan English Medium School, Kopar Khairane.

It is only of late that he has begun batting as an opener, but has immediately shown his abilities against the new ball. His coach Manish, who also runs a coaching clinic in the school premises, said how Gavate, who studies in standard eight, shifted from the middle-order to the opener's slot. “Previously, he used to bat at one or two down but he requested me to allow him to open the innings. After testing him in the nets with the new ball and in a few practice matches, I was confident that he can do well.”

Gavate, on his part, has expressed his desire to continue as an opener. “I like to open as it gives me time to play long innings and I managed to do so on Tuesday. Hopefully, I can continue in same way from here on,”

Author's Take

It is a rare achivement by a boy as young as Gavate, having gone past the previous record of 1009 runs on a ground which his coach said was decently-sized, thus not providing the batsman with any unfair advantage. If he can continue in the same vein, he might soon make a name for himself in district and club cricket before graduating to the state team.