Gujarat’s Drona Desai was just another cricket until he made headlines with his marvellous knock in the Diwan Ballubhai Cup Under-19 multi-day tournament in Gandhinagar; an annual cricket tournament conducted by the Central Board of Cricket Ahmedabad, under Gujarat Cricket Association. The 18-year-old batter smashed 498 runs for his school St Xaviers (Loyola) against JL English School at the city’s Shivay cricket ground on Tuesday.
As reported by the Indian Express, Desai’s incredible innings spanned 320 balls and included seven sixes and 86 boundaries. His colossal knock handed his team an astounding victory by an innings and 712 runs victory against JL English School which was playing with just 10 players for the entire match as the 11th player walked in late.
Notably, Desai joined the list of batters who amassed such a tall score in school cricket. Mumbai’s Pranav Dhanawade (1009 not out), Prithvi Shaw (546), Dr Havewalla (515), Chamanlal (506 not out) and Arman Jaffer (498) were the previous highest run-getters.
Desai has represented Gujarat in Under-14s and this knock will boost his chances to get a spot in the state’s Under-19 set-up. Speaking with Indian Express, Desai said he took up cricket after watching legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
“I began to play cricket at the age of seven and my father pushed me hard as he felt I had in me to become a good cricketer. From 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,” Desai was quoted as saying.
Desai was disappointed to fall short of 500 runs, revealing that he was unaware of his score as there was no scoreboard on the ground.
“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 said.
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