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MUMBAI. — A Mumbai schoolboy made history yesterday when he became the first batsman in any class of cricket to score 1 000 runs in a single innings, with Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar leading the plaudits. Fifteen-year-old Pranav Dhanawade smashed his way to 1 009 not out off 323 balls as he obliterated a 117-year-old record for the highest number of runs scored in one innings. Dhanawade, the son of an auto-rickshaw driver, soared past Arthur Collins’ previous record total of 628 in England in 1899, during an inter-school tournament in the western Indian city.

“Congrats #PranavDhanawade on being the first ever to score 1 000 runs in an innings. Well done and work hard. You need to scale new peaks!” Indian batting great Tendulkar posted on Twitter.

Dhanawade’s epic knock included 129 fours and 59 sixes and came at a phenomenal strike rate of 312.38. It ended when his KC Gandhi High School team declared on 1 465 at the ground at Thane in northern Mumbai. Their opponents, Arya Gurukul, had been bowled out earlier for just 31, according to the Press Trust of India.

Dhanawade’s innings lasted 395 minutes and occurred during the Bhandari Cup school tournament, which is officially recognised by the Mumbai Cricket Association. The teenager, who also plays as wicket-keeper, surpassed Collins’ score on Monday, finishing the day on 652, before crossing the 1 000 mark after lunch yesterday. “I have always been a big-hitter. When I started I never thought about breaking the record,” Dhanawade told the Hindustan Times after his opening-day knock.

“The focus was never that. I just played my natural game, which is to attack from the word go. After reaching 300, my coach Harish Sharma told me to play on. I did not know of the world record, but we had the Indian record in mind,” he added, referring to the previous highest national individual total of 546. — AFP.