Pune: Sachin Dhas not only scored a match-winning hundred in India’s 132-run win over Nepal in the U-19 World Cup in Bloemfontein, he also gave his father the ultimate birthday gift on Friday. “We can’t be happier than this,” his father Sanju told TOI from Beed. “And it is Sachin’s 19th birthday tomorrow (Saturday). We are living a dream.”
Sachin, named after legendary Tendulkar, scored 116 off 101 balls with 11 fours and three sixes in South Africa in the Super Sixes game.He was promoted in the batting order ahead of in-form Musheer Khan and made the most of it. Since he came into bat in the 15th over at 62-3, it was not just a case of utilising seven fielders inside the 30-yard circle.
He drove well on both sides and pulled and slogged when got the balls in his slot.
The middle-order batsman was always rated highly by the Maharashtra Cricket Association. He has been the captain of Maharashtra in U-14, U-16 and U-19 level. And it’s kind of an intrigue that he is yet to represent the state at the senior level in any form of the game.
Local coach Azhar Shaikh, who had seen Sachin when he was barely five, said they were not expecting him to play for India straightaway. “We hoped to go step by step,” he said.
“Once I picked him in the MCA U-14 invitation league match when he was less than 9. He scored 26 not out in that match. That gave us some indication.
“Today against Nepal, the inside-out fours that he hit in the early part of the innings and when he was on 95 showed his confidence level and fearlessness.” Sachin’s father Sanju, a devotee of Tendulkar, said that when his son played for Maharashtra U-14s, his then coach Ajay Chavan spoke highly about his talent and indicated that practising on the turf wickets was important.
“There were only matting wickets in Beed,” said Dhas senior. “We made 5-6 turf wickets for him and other boys.”
He added that the contribution of his local coach and all MCA coaches in Sachin’s progress is immense.
“They never spoke negatively about him and never uttered demotivating words. Shekhar Ghosh, Milind Gunjal, Satyen Lande, National Cricket Academy staff and all his state and India coaches including Hrishikesh Kanitkar have contributed in shaping up my son,” said Sanju who works in the health department as lab assistant. “But the biggest influence has been the one-and-a-half months that he spent in the Maharashtra Premier League. Kedar Jadhav showed faith in him and picked him in his franchise team. He was also guided by teammates Ankeet Bawne and Azim Kazi during the T20 league. His confidence level reached another level after this stint.”
Dhas and India U-19 captain Uday Saharan added 215 runs in 33.2 overs for the fourth wicket at Mangaung Oval. Saharan scored 100 off 107 balls with nine fours. Both scored their maiden centuries in the tournament.
Sachin had a sequence of 26*, 21*, 20 and 15 preceding this game when he got to bat only at the fag end of the innings. Saharan had scored 64, 75, 35 and 34 in the earlier games. Though Nepal was never in the chase, they added 45 runs in more than 11 overs in the unbroken 10th wicket stand. India will play their semifinal against South Africa on Tuesday.
Brief scores: India U-19: 297-5 (Sachin Dhas 116, Uday Saharan 100; Gulshan Jha 3-56) bt Nepal U-19: 165-9 (Dev Khanal 33; Saumy Pandey 4-27, Arshin Kulkarni 2-18).
Sachin, named after legendary Tendulkar, scored 116 off 101 balls with 11 fours and three sixes in South Africa in the Super Sixes game.He was promoted in the batting order ahead of in-form Musheer Khan and made the most of it. Since he came into bat in the 15th over at 62-3, it was not just a case of utilising seven fielders inside the 30-yard circle.
He drove well on both sides and pulled and slogged when got the balls in his slot.
The middle-order batsman was always rated highly by the Maharashtra Cricket Association. He has been the captain of Maharashtra in U-14, U-16 and U-19 level. And it’s kind of an intrigue that he is yet to represent the state at the senior level in any form of the game.
Local coach Azhar Shaikh, who had seen Sachin when he was barely five, said they were not expecting him to play for India straightaway. “We hoped to go step by step,” he said.
“Once I picked him in the MCA U-14 invitation league match when he was less than 9. He scored 26 not out in that match. That gave us some indication.
“Today against Nepal, the inside-out fours that he hit in the early part of the innings and when he was on 95 showed his confidence level and fearlessness.” Sachin’s father Sanju, a devotee of Tendulkar, said that when his son played for Maharashtra U-14s, his then coach Ajay Chavan spoke highly about his talent and indicated that practising on the turf wickets was important.
“There were only matting wickets in Beed,” said Dhas senior. “We made 5-6 turf wickets for him and other boys.”
He added that the contribution of his local coach and all MCA coaches in Sachin’s progress is immense.
“They never spoke negatively about him and never uttered demotivating words. Shekhar Ghosh, Milind Gunjal, Satyen Lande, National Cricket Academy staff and all his state and India coaches including Hrishikesh Kanitkar have contributed in shaping up my son,” said Sanju who works in the health department as lab assistant. “But the biggest influence has been the one-and-a-half months that he spent in the Maharashtra Premier League. Kedar Jadhav showed faith in him and picked him in his franchise team. He was also guided by teammates Ankeet Bawne and Azim Kazi during the T20 league. His confidence level reached another level after this stint.”
Dhas and India U-19 captain Uday Saharan added 215 runs in 33.2 overs for the fourth wicket at Mangaung Oval. Saharan scored 100 off 107 balls with nine fours. Both scored their maiden centuries in the tournament.
Sachin had a sequence of 26*, 21*, 20 and 15 preceding this game when he got to bat only at the fag end of the innings. Saharan had scored 64, 75, 35 and 34 in the earlier games. Though Nepal was never in the chase, they added 45 runs in more than 11 overs in the unbroken 10th wicket stand. India will play their semifinal against South Africa on Tuesday.
Brief scores: India U-19: 297-5 (Sachin Dhas 116, Uday Saharan 100; Gulshan Jha 3-56) bt Nepal U-19: 165-9 (Dev Khanal 33; Saumy Pandey 4-27, Arshin Kulkarni 2-18).