5 unbelievable Indian school cricket records

Some incredible feats have been achieved in India's school cricket over the past few years. Whether individual or team-based, records are being broken and new ones created at an unimaginably rapid rate.A few of these achievements have even gone on to surpass records that were created several decades ago and are the best in any form of cricket. Most of the players who have broken these barriers were barely in their teens when they did it.Here are some of the most unbelievable records from Indian school cricket:

#5 Shishir Tiwari & Sufian Shaikh set a 5th wicket partnership record

Mumbai’s school cricket has been a breeding ground for champions

The Harris Shield inter-school tournament played in Mumbai has witnessed plenty of cricketing records being made and eclipsed. One such record was created by teenagers Shishir Tiwari and Sufian Shaikh when they registered the highest 5th wicket partnership across all forms of cricket.

The pair added a staggering 531 runs together with Tiwari scoring 318 and his partner Shaikh remaining unbeaten on 202. Their team, Anjuman-i-Islam Fort English School, rode on their terrific partnership to post a total of 1,121 on the board, which included 132 penalty runs due to slow over rate for the opponents Baptist School.

Anjuman-i-Islam blew away the opposition for 46 and 145 and inflicted an imposing defeat on them by an innings and 980 runs.

#4 S Sankruth Sriram scores unbeaten 486 in a one-day match

S Sankruth Sriram has not received due credit for his record (Image Courtesy – The Hindu)

One of the most phenomenal yet least acknowledged cricket record is held by youngster S Sankruth Sriram of JSS International School, Ooty. As a 15- year old, Sriram reportedly went on to attain the highest individual score in limited-overs cricket when he scored 486 not out against Hebron School.

The youngster achieved this incredible milestone in the Nilgiris DCA under-16 inter-school cricket tournament. Sankruth was also involved in a 605-run opening stand with S Dhanush Priyan, which also turned out to be the final score for their school team.

JSS International School made short work of Hebron School and managed to dismiss them for a lowly 42, winning the game by 563 runs.

#3 B Manoj Kumar & Mohammad Shahbaz Tumbi string record 721-run partnership

B Manoj Kumar and Mohammad Shahbaz Tumbi after their iconic stand

As school kids, Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli had stitched together the biggest partnership in any form of cricket when they scored 664 runs for Shardashram Vidyamandir in the Harris Shield tournament. However, close to 20 years later in 2006, this record was smashed by a pretty big margin by two Hyderabad under-13 cricketers.

B Manoj Kumar and Mohammad Shahbaz Tumbi put together a mammoth unbeaten 721-run partnership for St Peter’s High School in a 40-over match against St Phillip High School during the HCA inter-school league. The duo were the only batsmen who batted for their team throughout the 40 overs.

Riding on their stellar performance, St Peter’s High School bowled out their opponents for just 21 and won the match by an unprecedented margin of 700 runs.

#2 Nava Nalanda High School scores 844 for 2 in 45 overs

The passion for cricket in Kolkata is unmatched

Kolkata's Nava Nalanda High School marched their way straight into the cricket record books with a phenomenal feat during the Mayor's Cup inter-school cricket tournament. In a match against Gyan Bharati Vidyapith, they pulled off the Herculean task of scoring 844 for 2 in 45 overs.

Nava Nalanda were greatly assisted by the fact that the opposition team had been handed a penalty of 227 runs, which propelled their score from 617 to 844. However, inspite of this, the school's name will be right on top in terms of the highest team score in any limited-overs match ever.

When they came out to bowl, Nava Nalanda High School skittled out Gyan Bharati Vidyapith for a paltry 32 to win the encounter by a huge margin of 812 runs.

#1 Pranav Dhanawade scores 1009 not out

Pranav Dhanawade poses beside the scoreboard after his epic knock

One of the most recent and perhaps the most incredible of all school cricket records came in the form of Pranav Dhanawade's magical knock in January this year. Playing for KC Gandhi English School, Dhanawade scored an unimaginable 1009 not out off 327 balls in a match against Arya Gurukul.

In the process, the 15-year old not only broke the record for the highest individual score ever in any form of cricket, but also helped his team topple plenty of records. The mammoth total of 1465 for 3 that the KC Gandhi English School put on the board is the biggest in the history of cricket.

Moreover, they also inflicted the most devastating defeat ever as they beat Arya Gurukul by an innings and 1382 runs. Pranav Dhanawade received bundles of appreciation from all quarters for his monumental effort.