Shashank Singh is one of the prolific all-rounders who has been playing for DY Patil since years. He started playing cricket since 2008 playing for the under 19 team in Mumbai. He later joined DY Patil which became his 2nd home. Over the years he developed himself into a solid top order batsman who became a backbone in DY Patil’s batting line up.
Shashank who has amassed over 2100runs in this calendar year will be making a big move as he moves to Pondicherry to pursue his master’s degree. Speaking exclusively to Cricketgraph, Shashank quipped ‘till today when i am the part of the senior Mumbai team i have cherished each and every moment!! Just loved playing in that jersey, i cannot tell you how emotional it was for me but then yes i will be playing for Pondichery as i am doing my masters from there ! I would like to thank DY Patil Sports Academy because whatever big or small name i have earned in Mumbai is because of them, all thanks from the groundsman to the management staff and the talented friends I made I in the club. Also special thanks to ABEY sir and VIJAY sir for trusting my abilities and giving me the freedom to express myself, i even had people like Praveen tambe and Ashok kadam to always guide me and motivate me’
My personal coach Mr. Vidya Paradkar sir is someone who knows my game better than me, he has worked for hours with me on my technical aspects and I am very grateful to have a coach and mentor like him. Would also thank my bat maker M Ashraf providing me the best bats throughout the season. Lastly my family was my constant support all these years.. yes it’s emotional that i will be not playing for Mumbai but at the same time excited for the new journey!! Though I will be playing for DY patil but it won’t be too regular because of the state commitments and special thanks to cricketgraph for promoting talents like us, it really boosts us to perform better”
Every state can allow 3 players from outside and for Tripura they have acquired Bravish Shetty and Harmeet Singh.
Bravish Shetty who is Parsee Gymkhana’s one of the most reliable top order batsman known to adapt to different situations exclusively spoke with Cricketgraph “Whatever i have in my hands i am trying to make the most of it while I am very happy to get a chance to showcase my talent at the higher level”
On the other hand Harmeet Singh who was a part of the U19 World Cup winning Team is also a prolific performer of Mumbai Cricket shared with Cricketgraph “that playing for India is my ultimate dream and playing for Tripura gives me a better chance to play all the 3 formats-Test, ODI’s and T20’s at the highest level” 25yr old Harmeet who has age and fitness both by his side needed more opportunities so that he can represent India.
Surely an emotional moment for Harmeet Singh & Bravish Shetty while at the same time it’s a big move in their cricket careers.
Scoring a half century in a Kanga is equivalent to 70 or 80runs in a normal cricket match and that’s why it’s all the more special to play in Kanga matches where the bowlers can take advantage of the dew from the wickets and it becomes difficult for the batsman to score runs freely on a wet wicket.
In the recent match between Young Comrade CC and Sainath Sports Club, Young Comrade CC who were made to bat first batted really well losing just 3wkts before declaring their innings at 156runs in 33overs. All-rounder Prithvi Khakhar(30 off 50b) opening the innings gave a solid start while it was Mayuresh and Anish taking the momentum forward with solid half centuries. Anish coming at no.3 scored an elegant 77ball 55(6fours) while Mayuresh counter attacked the bowlers smashing a 50ball 57* which had 3fours and 4 biggies to enthrall his team mates.
Sainath SC batted for 6overs before the match got over without a result obtained ending in a draw. It was a good day in the office for the Young Comrade boys with batsman showing a lot of grit and confidence for a great season ahead.
Kanga league-One of the most loved tournaments in Mumbai for the cricket lovers has kickstarted and already some good performances have emerged out in the opening day itself. In rain hampered wickets where the bowlers can change the game, it was the turn of all-rounder Rahul Sawant to help his team win the game with his wise bowling.
Played between Young Friends CC and Yogi CC at the Oval Maidan. Yogi CC electing to bowl first restricted Young Friends CC to 121/9 in 40overs. The bowlers were impressive hardly allowing anyone to settle with all-rounder Rahul Sawant spearheading the attack with bowling figures of 5/32 in 16overs. Rahul displayed some amazing left-arm spin cleaning up the top order with his tight bowling.
On the other hand, Yogi CC with the help of their opener Amar Kulkarni reached 123/5 in 22overs. Right handed Amar scored a dominating 59 facing only 41deliveries which also had 5 big sixes much to the entertainment of his team. Yogi CC won the match on 1st innings as they kickstart their season on a bright note.
Featured image-Pushkar who scored 38 opening the innings
Remember Kallis and Afridi taking a 5wkt haul as well as smashing a half century at the International level? Be it at any level in cricket, there are very few players who can achieve this feat and all-rounder Nitin Surve who also happens to be a cricket coach & a former Ranji Cricketer led from the front as an example first scoring a solid half century and then bowling a match winning spell of 5wkts!
Khar Gymkhana bowling first on their own turf took on Shivaji Park Youngsters who batted well to notch up 172/6 dec in 44.2overs. The team which was struggling at 3/19 and 5/64 reached 172/6 as Mandar Phadkar and Nitin Surve stitched a 108run stand rescuing the team from a low total. Nitin scored a run a ball 56 which had 6sixes while Mandar Phadke remained unbeaten on 49*falling just one short of a match saving 50!
Shivaji Park boys pounced upon Khar Gymkhana batsman on their own den as they reduced them to mere 67/all out with all-rounder Nitin bagging 5/23 in 13overs with his wily leg-spin. Rahul Ratnaparkhi was also quite impressive bagging 4wkts as Shivaji Park youngsters won the match on 1st innings lead. Nitin achieved one of the rare milestones any all-rounder would dream of as we wish him and the team a great season ahead.
Rains hampered almost half of the matches and it was nothing but frustrating for our Mumbai Cricketers to read every Saturday “All the matches washed out”. After a long wait, it was a moment to rejoice for the cricketers as the prestigious Kanga finally kicked off. It was a great day on the ground for PJ Hindu Gymkhana boys as they begin their debut kanga match of the season with dominance.
Electing to bowl first on their own ground, they took on Apollo CC on a partially bowler dominating wicket as they were all bundled out for 94runs in 38overs. All-rounder Sachin Wagh this time displayed his bowling heroics as he came up with match winning bowling figures of 5/16 in 8overs ripping apart the middle order. Sachin bowled well in the right areas which proved fruitful for the team.
PJ Hindu Gymkhana on the other hand declared their innings for 110 without the loss of any wickets as Sachin Katkar and Ankit Revandkar opening the innings took on the counter attack heads on. Sachin smashed a fiery 56* off 51balls (5fours, 1six) while Ankit scored a sturdy 53* off 57balls (6fours, 2sixes). Apollo CC were 63/3 before the match ended with PJ Hindu Gymkhana winning the match on 1st innings.
While one has been a class performer with a great experience in Mumbai Cricket, the other one is rising on the ranks with consistent batting throughout the year. Subramaniam and Shashank both these names are now synonymous with Mumbai Cricket as they start the season with a bang.
Played at the United Cricketers, Cross Maidan, DY Patil and Bhatnagar S & CF locked horns for the opening game of the season where in Rohit Rane of Bhatnagar team won the toss and elected to bowl first. DY Patil who have always been a strong batting side displayed their might on bowler friendly wicket declaring their innings at 134/4 in mere 16overs. Subramaniam who is more of a class and grace this time decided to play aggressively dominating the bowlers with a punchy 53* off 43balls which had 4fours and 2sixes. Shashank Singh on the other hand gave a solid support as he scored on what could possibly be the fastest kanga half century this season. Shashank scored 59 off mere 28balls which had 6biggies and 4fours while Aman and Shubham got a bit unlucky falling for ducks.
Bhatnagar also faced DY Patil’s bowling strength as they were left struggling at 30/7 in 28overs. Left-arm spinner Karsh Kothari extracted the best from the wicket bagging stunning figures of 5/5 in 12overs with 7maidens.
DY Patil team starts the season with pure dominance and expect really tough competition ahead from one of the most powerful teams right now in Mumbai Cricket.
When it comes to love for cricket, Mumbai is never short of hard working players who manage both their work as well as cricketing career and Rakesh Naik is amongst one such players who has evolved as an all-rounder in the recent years.
29yr old Mumbai Lad Rakesh who practices hard at the MB Union Ground (Cross Maidan) started his cricketing career from Shardashram Vidyamandir and Rizvi College. He has been playing cricket for the last 16years & is currently an active professional cricketer playing in MCA as well as corporate level tournaments. This entire year has been a great one and he has also achieved some good records the most notable being the one where he scored a ton and a 5wkt haul in the same match! Rakesh Naik who currently does job at Intelenet has been one value for money utility all-rounder for whichever teams he has played for so far. Rakesh who bowls wily left arm spin and also bats at the middle order has single handedly helped many matches win this year.
Rakesh Naik lead Bombay Junior Tournament for Blue Star CC by scoring valuable 115 and took 5 wickets to lead his team against Shastri CC. An all round performance made him man of the match in the Bombay Junior League matches.
He also lead MB union in Cosmopolitan Shield tournament against Kamath CC scoring 109 in middle order which not only held the team together but went on to win the semi final quite convincingly.
His credentials went from One Day to Test matches too wherein he was awarded best batsman for Kanga League 2017 which is one of the prestigious tournaments organized by MCA. He scored mammoth 289 runs with an Average of 48.17 & strike rate of 83.77 in 11 innings. He scored 1 century and 3 fifty’s while also scalped 14 wickets in the D Division kanga league.
He also went onto display his heroics in the Summer Vacation Tournament scalping 5 for 27 with his left arm spin to ensure his team marked through to the semi finals.
In the end of Mumbai Cricket calendar he played for KRP11 in the Kanga Knockout Tournament ensuring in 5 rounds he scored 263 runs and took 11 scalps for his team. He batted like a champion in the finals too when the wickets were falling consistently he ensured to hold one side and batted with wagged tail scoring a match winning 104 in the finals of knockout tournament. This performance of Rakesh Naik did not only ensure KRP 11 to emerge as Champion for the first time for their Club owner but he also became captain to lead in G”Div which is called the league of deaths. He has also lead Serco Ltd in Times Shield B div.
Rakesh Naik has scored 4 centuries and 7 fifties in the last calendar year while scalping 26 wickets displaying great ingredients for an outstanding all rounder leading teams across all formats.
Wishing Rakesh Naik all the very best for this calendar year and wishing him many more centuries and five-fers to come.
CRICKETGRAPH
Cricket lovers who are passionate for the sport will never leave their connection with the game and Prashant Shetty, Jagdish Chavan and Sandesh Paralkar are three examples. These three people who have a rich background in cricket this time decided to give it back to cricket by developing a one of its kind indoor cricket nets academy for budding cricketers which got opened on 31st July.
To introduce these 3 founders, Prashant Shetty has been an ex-Ranji Cricketer and also the coach of the Mumbai U/14 and U/16 teams for 7 years. He is also the coach of the upcoming batting sensation Prithvi Shaw. Jagdish Chavan who is a good friend of Sachin Tendulkar was a fast bowler who went to MRF Pace Foundation in his playing days while Sandesh Paralkar on the other hand played for MCA Colts, Worli Cricket Club “A” Div and currently the skipper of BMC Cricket team.
When asked Prashant Shetty on what was the motivation to open this facility he quipped there are very few indoor nets for practice in Mumbai and during rains(off-season) players find it difficult to practice and that was the reason to open it for the young players to practice.
Prashant Shetty who is now a banker ensures he gives maximum time towards the sport he loves and when we asked him to share more details about the nets we got to know- this is one of the very few Indoor Cricket Nets in Mumbai to also have a bowling machine. The balls can be delivered at a maximum speed of 135kmph while you can also face bouncers and tweak the line and length for practicing.
A bowling machine like this is good for drills and to practice specific shots while it is also essential for the skill development of a player. Another USP of this place is, even the fast bowlers can have a full run up here unlike other places where pacers have to shorten their run-ups.
At present equipped with 3 Nets and named Jayshree Janardan Shirsekar indoor Cricket academy, it’s open between 7am to 9pm and it’s already getting popular amongst cricket lovers and professional players!
Being a wicket keeper is a mentally and physically tough job, you have to stand all the time & every ball of the innings vigilantly. You have to be athletic and quick enough to take tough catches, you have to dive and field really well and a wicket keeper is always on toes never sitting idle in a match. In fact they are the busiest on the field and what’s more they also have to chip in with the bat down the order and help their team reach a decent total or help their teams chase totals. So definitely to be a wicket keeper you have to be a step ahead than the others when it comes to fitness, temperament and agility.
Coming from the bylanes of Masjid Bandar from a humble background and his father being a salesman, 14yr Old Owais Shaikh is the quintessential example of cricketing talent found in remote corners of Mumbai. He is one such player who has shown a lot of potential to become a sturdy keeper batsman. Since the time he has started playing in U14 MCA Tournaments, Owais has always been the first choice wicket keeper for whichever teams he represents. It’s because he hardly misses catches behind the stumps while he is also quite an athletic fielder. What’s more right handed Owais who bats usually at no.4 or below has time and again proved that he is not just a keeper but a proper wicket keeper batsman rescuing his teams with the bat on numerous occasions.
Playing for Rizvi team, he has scored hundreds and half centuries in big tournaments like Worli Cup, Giles Shield, Harris Shield and many more. Owais has always averaged 40+ with the bat which is quite a rarity for a keeper and as far as his 2018 is concerned he averages above 50.00 with the bat while equally effective behind the stumps.
Rizvi School who are known to churn out cricketing talents has given one more talent in Owais as he gives his best despite the lack of financial support even though he has a very supportive family with his father being the most passionate for his son to become a cricketer.
Owais himself wishes to play for the Mumbai team at the state level as well as one day don the Indian Colors as he keeps on practicing hard to hone his wicket-keeping skills.
Owais Shaikh statistics in 2018 (In MCA Matches)
Owais Shaikh (RHB)
| Name- | Owais Shaikh (RHB)14yrs old |
| Matches– | 21 (21innings) |
| Runs- | 1164 |
| Average- | 58.20 |
| 50’s- | 8 |
| 100’s- | 3 |
| Catches- | 60 |
| Stumpings– | 40 |
| Best- | 127 |
CRICKETGRAPH