18-year-old batter Drona Desai entered the list of elite players with a colossal 498-run knock for his school St Xaviers (Loyola) against JL English School on September 24 at Shivay cricket ground, Gandhinagar in Diwan Ballubhai Cup under-19 multi-day tournament.
In the tournament organised by Central Board of Cricket Ahmedabad under the Gujarat Cricket Association, Desai registered the sixth-highest score by a batter in the country. The top spot belongs to Mumbai's Pranav Dhanawade (1009 not out) followed by Prithvi Shaw (546), Dr Havewalla (515), Chamanlal (506 not out) and Arman Jaffer (498).
Desai misses milestone by a whisker
Desai had a chance to surpass Jaffer on the list and complete 500 runs but he was unaware he was nearing a major milestone.
“There is no scoreboard in the ground and my team didn’t inform me that I was batting on 498, I went to play my stroke and got out but I’m happy that I managed to get those runs,” Desai told the Indian Express.
Desai faced 320 balls and hit 86 fours, seven sixes in his 498-run knock. The knock helped St Xaviers register a win by an innings and 712 runs over JL English School. The opposition had to play with ten players for the entire game as one player wasn't allowed to play for walking in late.
Drona idolises Sachin Tendulkar
Desai walked in to bat at no.3 and made bowlers toil hard under the sun. He has played for Gujarat's Under-14 team. The teenager idolises legendary Sachin and hopes to find a spot in Gujarat's Under-19 side.
“I began to play cricket at the age of seven and my father pushed me hard as he felt I have in me to become a good cricketer. He took me to JP Sir (Jayprakash Patel) who had coached more than 40 cricketers. Such is the scenario that since standard 8 to 12, I just went to school for my exams. I just continued playing cricket and am hoping to make it big one day,” he added.
Like many before him who registered big scores at school cricket level, Desai may have piqued the interest of state selectors.
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