Mumbai: In an unexpected twist in the entire hoopla surrounding selection of Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun over Pranav Dhanawade in the West Zone U-16 side, the latter's father has come out in former's defense.
Slamming the media reports for lack of research before raising up doubts, Prashant Dhanawade has cleared the air with his latest statement.
Dhanawade, son of an auto-rickshaw driver, smashed record books earlier this year. Batting for KC Gandhi School against Arya Gurukul in a Bhandari Cup match, he became the first batsman ever to score 1000 runs in an innings.
The 15-year-old batsman scored an unbeaten 1,009 runs in just 327 balls at a strike rate of 312.38 before KC Gandhi School finally declared with their score on 1465. His marathon innings included 59 sixes and 129 fours.
The record was previously held by AEJ Collins, who in June 1899, scored 628 not out in a junior house match at Clifton College.
While fans are unhappy with Pranav’s exclusion from the West Zone U-16 side, his father Prashant Dhanawade slammed the news making rounds about Arjun’s selection over his son.
“The news about Arjun Tendulkar and Pranav spread by media is false. Pranav’s name was not there in the MCA’s U-16 team for 2015-16 in which Arjun was included. For the zonal team, players from the MCA U-16 side are selected based on their performance. When Pranav was not in the U-16 side, there is no question of him getting selected for the zonal team,” Pranav’s father Prashant Dhanawade told Dainik Bhaskar.
“Moreover, the West Zone U-16 team was already selected before Pranav played the record innings of 1,0009 runs,” he further added.
It is important to mention here that Pranav was 15 years old when he smashed the record innings, which means he was not eligible for the U-16 squad. He turned 16 on May 13 this year.
