All-rounder Arjun Bagaitkar and Aarush Patankar steal the show vs Dnyansagar School in the MCA Bhandari Trophy 2017
Some kids give signs of a promising future at a very young age & 11year old Arjun bagaitkar is one such example as he has consistently played good cricket over the past few seasons to stamp himself as one of the rising and promising talents in the field of cricket. One such display of perfomance by Arjun was against the recently held match against Dnyansagar International School where his team (Billabong high school) won the toss & elected to bat first at the Raymonds Cricket Ground in Mumbai.
Batting first, Billabong High School managed to score a decent 273/7 in 45 overs. Though openers Aarush Patankar (27) & Rishi (13) gave a small but a good start but it was their no.3 batsman Arjun Bagaitkar who scored a very solid looking half-century to stabilize the Billabong innings. Right-handed Arjun scored 57 off 82balls where he smashed 5 fours & did equally good running between the wickets showing a lot of patience & resilience at the crease. Aman Sarda (40 off 52) & Sai Anurag (28 off 19) also chipped in with solid knocks to push their team total further to a highly competitive one. The bowlers could have done a better job to restrict them to a total around 200 but Aryan Parad lacked support from the other end as he was the lone wolf from Dnyansagar school scalping 5/51 in 9 overs.
Chasing a healthy total of 274 in 45 overs is always a task & Dnyansagar boys did appear to succumb to the pressure of chasing as they were all out for just 100 runs. Left-arm spinner Arush Patankar once again showed what he is capable with the ball as he bowled a brilliant spell of 5/32 in 8 overs. Arjun who had scored a half century also chipped in with 2wkts with his right-arm spin.
Billabong High school won the match by 174runs & Arjun and Aarush’s perfomance was the highlight of the match while Arjun was declared ‘man of the match’
Arjun has been commendable for his age just like Aarush as his track record since the last 6 months is quite a testimony towards that fact as he averages around 39with the bat & has also taken wickets at regular intervals making him a vital cog in the team:
Arjun Bagaitkar
His notable performances since the last 6months are-
| Score/wkts | Date | Opposition | Tournament |
| 42runs | 8th December 2016 | – | Kalyan Premier League |
| 18runs & 3wkts | 15TH December 2016 | – | Kalyan Premier League |
| 27runs & 3wkts | 21st December 2016 | – | MCA U-14 Ghantali trophy |
| 57runs & 2wkts | 24th December 2016 | Dnyanganga School | MCA U-16 Bhandari Trophy |
| 64 | 23rd January 2017 | Gundecha Public Schoool | Mini Olympic Tophy-SF |
| 44 | 24TH January 2017 | Vasant Vihar School | Mini Olympic Trophy Finals match |
| 39runs | 10th Feb 2017 | Singhania School | Kalyan Premier League |
| 28runs & 3wkts | 20th March 2017 | VPM Mulund | Sri Maa Trophy |
| 24 | 23rd March 2017 | Singhania School | Sri Maa Trophy Finals |
| 57 & 2wkts | 20th April 2017 | Dnyansagar School | MCA Bhandari Trophy |
Also the credit must go to their talented coaches Ajay Bhagat sir & Datta Vaity who toil hard to extract the best from the kids who come to get coached under their wings at the Rising Star Cricket Academy. Arjun himself has been attending this academy since the past 2 years & we are sure Arjun must be thankful towards their hard-working coaches.
Cricketgraph congratulates the whole team for their win while also wishes Aarush & Arun all the luck for a great future ahead & continue playing awesome cricket to reach dizzling heights in the field of cricket.
CRICKETGRAPH