Cricket, in many ways, exemplifies life it is said. No dream is ever chased alone. Seldom does individual brilliance best a collective effort of 11 determined men. And yet, in a country increasingly obsessed with idolizing once-in-a-generation superstars, a comprehensive team effort is often not given its due credit.
Cricketgraph, In association with ‘Fast & Up Sports Nutrition’, launched a campaign to recognise & celebrate these team performances in local cricket. Various competitions across Mumbai were part of our assessment process, whereby performances were judged based on parameters such as team effort, it’s impact on the eventual outcome of the game and the importance of a game.
Al Barkat Malik English School from Kurla were crowned the rightful winners of the ‘Fast & Up’ award basis their performance in the Harris Shield final played against Swami Vivekanand International School. Put into bat, Al Barkat posted a fighting 374/9 declared, courtesy of classy half centuries from Ankit Yadav, Saumil Malandkar and Himanshu Singh. In reply, Swami Vivekanand school crumbled under the scoreboard pressure, losing wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 179 in their first innings. Saud Mansoori did the star turn with the ball, collecting a fifer. He was well supported by Naufil Rozani, who bagged a couple. With a massive first-innings lead secured, Al Barkat were 32/2 in their second essay at the end of the game. They were crowned champions by virtue of the first-innings lead.
The winning team was rewarded with a supply of Sports Nutrition supplies from ‘Fast & Up’, which would surely be of immense value for these young athletes in supplementing their skills with improved energy and fitness levels.
Head coach Mr.Nafees Khan and captain Harsh Mugaveera were ecstatic on winning the trophy while also acknowledging the contribution made by Fast & Up and Cricketgraph towards talent promotion. We would like to thank Fast & Up for their continued support in this initiative and wish the partnership more success in the future.
The over-whelming response continues for this initiative by NATARAJ PENS and this time it was at Mulund at PT’s academy. The nets were ready, pitch rolled, the registration desk ready and as always we saw hundreds of aspiring cricketers coming here to give their best.
The start to the event was a bit worrying as initially the bowlers were finding it hard to hit the stumps but the second half was quite a comeback where the bowlers finally got into the groove. There were 113 players who registered for the 1st round but eventually only 32 made it to the 2nd round. In the 3rd round, only 13 bowlers were qualified who while only 3 players made it to the Knockout round.
Then came this boy Pranay Gavande- 18year old right arm fast bowler from KJ Somaiya who left everyone shocked and impressed with his superlative accuracy. The best part about this fast bowler was not only was he hitting the deck really hard and generating good pace for his age but he also smashed the stumps in all the three rounds in single attempts. In 3balls, he was tested to the hilt but he emerged out to be a winner. Pranay bowled 6 deliveries out of which he smashed the timber 4 times out of which twice was single stumps (the itip gel pen powered stump) which is really difficult. In the final knockout round too where he was competing with 3bowlers, Pranay nailed it with really impressive accuracy winning the knockouts in style.
Pranay was gifted a Winners Certificate from NATARAJ PENS , NATARAJ PENS goodie and stunning high quality batting pads from sports equipment sponsor RM Sports by the founder Rajeev Mishra. Once again the success story continues as this initiative by NATARAJ PENShas helped in spotting talented bowlers from different corners of Mumbai.
A bunch of cricket enthusiasts have started with a cricket academy in Thane’s Yeoor area on January 26. Cricketgraph interacted with Shailesh Nakashe, one of the cricketers, who has played an instrumental role in the formation of the cricket set-up for warriors. An employee of Datamatics Ltd.,Nakashe is a passionate cricketer and represents Warriors Cricket Club. Sameer Rane a committed cricketer and coach of Godrej school cricket team too has played a pivotal role in the formation of Warriors cricket cub. This infrastructure and venue is developed by sports Gurukul LLP.
Cricket is one of the favourite games of Mumbaikars, but the only limitation in playing the sport is the lack of availability of a proper cricket ground/cricket nets. This was the problem faced by Nakashe and his club as well. Therefore, he along with few of his club players decided to permanently fix this problem.
Nakashe and co. have started a cricket academy in Yeoor. Sports Academy of Gurukul LLP have allotted 2 nets to warriors cricket club and ther other 3 nets are available on rent to outsiders by sports academy of gurukul LLP. Currently, there are 15 people admitted in the warriors cricket academy. The cricket academy is unique in its own way. Under the able aegis of Nakashe and a few other coaches, the trainees are imparted quality cricket coaching. Apart from this, the players who are being coached get a chance to play as many matches as possible in Mumbai. The cherry on the cake is the players are taken outside Mumbai to play a few games. For instance, in the month of February, Nakashe and co. will be taking the students of the academy to Goa, where they will be given an opportunity to play against their local teams. This will not only provide the benefit of match practice to the players but also give them a chance to understand how the sport is played in different places of India. Unlike most of the academies, Warriors Cricket Club academy will provide cricket whites to the players. Advance physical fitness, personal training, sports nutrition, conditioning, and counselling will be provided to the students of the academy.
Age is no bar to take admission in the academy. There is no limit on the maximum age of a player but the minimum age should be five. The Warriors Cricket Club is working towards getting some school team under their coaching ambit.
Cricketgraph wishes all the very best to Warriors Cricket Club and appreciates their noble intention of extending quality cricket coaching with added benefits to the players.
Played on 3rd at Sainath Sports Club between National Eng. High School and Dr.MG Parulekar School, it was the all important finale of the tournament where both the teams fought hard to reach the finals.
MGPM who won the toss elected to bat first wherein they were all out for 157/10 in 44.2 overs. The entire batting line up crumbled apart from their no.3 Bhuvanesh Tandel who saved the grace of the team with a solid looking 58 off 100balls (4fours). Had he not scored a half century, the team could have been all-out in two digit figures. The bowler who inflicted the damage once again was Sharik baloch. Off-spinner Sharik bowled a match winning bowling spell and delivered at the right time in the all important finals coming up with excellent bowling figures of 7/51 in 12.2 overs. Sharik whow bowled less in this tournament pounced on the opportunity he got with both the hands displaying amazing discipline and accuracy with the ball.
Chasing 158 and when you have all-rounders like Perrira at the top of the order, there are very less chances of losing. Opening the innings, skipper Princely Perreira scored an anchoring knock of 79 off 116deliveries (8fours) which completed half of their job while chasing. Eventually, NES School chased down the score in39.4 overs and won the finals by 5wkts. It was a deserving win for the boys where in once again two pearls of NES-Princely and Sharik rose to the occasion. Sharik who took 30wkts in 8wkts in the Vasai Colts showed his mettle in the Inter School tournament too while Perreira with 17wkts and scores of 42 & 79 in the finals is making sure that he is hailed as one of the most promising all-rounders to look out for.
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Played at the Khar Gymkhana Ground, it was the all important clash between Rizvi Springfield High School and IES New English H.S, Bandra where in IES won the toss and elected to field first with an aim of restricting IES to a low total.
Batting first, the top order really developed a positive momentum with all the top three chipping in. Opener Aditya Dev smashed a gritty 29 alongwith Alsaad who scored a solid 37. Shubham Mistry who came in at no.3 chipped in with a match winning 44 off 74balls (5fours) which took their team total to 179/10 in 45overs which if not a great total was surely a defendable one. Palash Pawar fought really hard with the ball coming up with excellent bowling figures of 5/52 in 18.4overs (3maidens).
It was a thriller of a chase wherein both the teams gave their best. IES fell just 1run short scoring 178/8 in 45 overs as the match remained interesting till the very last ball. Anurag Nair and Jash Ganiga stitched a crucial stand wherein they tried resurrecting the innings for sometime but the rest of the batsman were not able to convert their starts. Anurag Nair who came 1down scored a fighting 57 (103balls) while Jash Ganiga at no.4 scored a solid 73ball 48 to steady the ship. Spinner Aman Manihar was the pick of the bowlers coming up with an economic spell of 3/32 in 20 overs while Shreyas Mandlik also grabbed two wickets which did the job for their team. Rizvi won the finals by 1runs on the back of collective team perfomance while IES boys also did a commendable job giving a real tough fight for a perfect finale match.
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Imagine a little cub who is just too raw to go out in the jungle and hunt for himself amongst the large predators and animals. That would be really tough, isn’t it? A similar sort of situation happened in the Padmakar Shield Tournament when the little wizard Jash Ganiga participated in a high profile match on the basis of his merit against players who were on an average twice his age. It also included the likes of veteran spinners Pravin Tambe, Iqbal Abudllah amongst other senior names.
Played between DY Patil and Karnatak Sporting Association at the DY Patil Ground, Karnatak SA won the toss and elected to bat first. Opening the innings with the attacking Rudra Dhanday, everyone must have assumed Jash must have felt the nervousness and he may struggle and get out eventually. But that was not the case, one of the most prolific &promising Under-14- and Under-16 batsman of Mumbai showed his class with the bat as he was the top scorer in his team’s playing XI. Right-handed Jash scored 46 off 75balls and made everyone go in awe with his batting. This must be an experience he will cherish for a long time as this was his debut match & he played against a level of players who were twice and thrice stronger in terms of fitness, age, physicality and mental conditioning. Jash also got a chance to face world class bowlers like Pravin Tambe and Iqbal Abudllah. Karnatak SA were all out for 210 runs with the rest of the batsman just managing to score 20’s and 30’s. From the bowling side, Tambe and Karsh Kothari were the leading bowlers scalping 3wkts each.
DY Patil chased down the score on the back of Iqbal Abudllah smashing a match winning 73* down the order helping his team win the match by 5wkts. Even though, Karnatak SA lost the match but they found a winner in this little lad Jash Ganiga who impressed one and all with his grit, confidence and survival instincts.
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Played at the Aarey Bhaskar Ground at Goregaon, it was the all crucial finals between two teams who fought their way to the finale. Knights and Gokuldham took one each other one last time in a 12 over clash where Knights won the toss and elected to bat first on the back of their strong batting line up.
Batting first, Knights made a handsome total of 125/7 in 12 overs which is surely a good total to defend. Even though most of the batsman struggled starting from openers, but Sagar Shah who has been in consistent form chipped in with a quick 24ball 33*(3fours, 2sixes) and anchored the innings till the end. Unlike his natural game, Sagar this time was looking to stay at the crease till the end rather than hitting every ball out of the park. All-rounder Parth Tolia at no.7 also gave a very crucial contribution smashing 3sixes in his quick 35 off 19deliveries. Nilesh Yadav with 3/18 and Amit Sawant with 2/19 were the pick of the bowlers from Gokuldham.
Gokuldham gave a really tough fight while chasing but it was late hitting by Parth which made the difference. Gokuldham managed to reach 90runs/4wkts in 12overs with Bharat Singh giving his best with an unbeaten 40* off 20balls at the middle order. Fast bowler Parth Tolia grabbed a wicket while Mukesh Patel with 2/20 bowled a very important spell of 3overs. Knights won the tournament finals by 37runs and Sagar Shah was declared ‘man of the match’ for his anchoring 33*. Parth’s contribution in the match was also equally commendable. Mukesh Patel was declared ‘Best bowler of the tournament’ while Sagar Shah was declared ‘Best batsman’ and ‘Man of the series’ too for his quick and consistent batting which included 2fifties and a hundred in 5matches at a stunning average of 135.50 and a superlative strike rate of 198.00 throughout the series.
Sagar Shah in GSC Champions Cup-
Innings-5
50’s-2
100’s-1
Average 135.5
Not-outs-3
Strike Rate- 198.00
Best Score- 101 off 42balls
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This particular initiative by NATARAJ PENS and Cricketgraph is just getting bigger and bigger as the talent hunt for the most accurate bowler has went on to become a massive success. In the Kalyan Chapter which was the last stop of the central line and a bit far from the station too, still there were kids who thronged up to the popular Santosh Sports Cricket Academy which is amongst the most revered cricket academies of Kalyan under the guidance and mentorship of Santosh Pathak sir.
There were kids who came from Bhayender, Nallasopara, Kharghar, Chembur and as always there was an emotional connect attached with this chapter too because of the genuine cricket loving participants who were striving to give their best. Once again, there were hundreds of participants who made it to the Kalyan Chapter where in even a working day under broad sunlight kids came (many without their parents). Out of which 113 were selected for the first round. There the bowlers gave their very best but only 41 made it to the 2nd round and only 13 made it to the third final round. And even in the final round out of 11, only two winners emerged out- One from the senior group and one from the Junior Group.
Risabh Kotai, the local boy from Kalyan who is mere 8yrs old from Birla School gave everyone a run for the money. The boy who studies in 3rd Std is also called as the ‘Little Virat of Kalyan’ because of his spellbinding skills both with the bat as well as with the ball. Medium pacer Risabh smashed the stumps in all the rounds while also removed the single timber in the finals which is really really commendable for his age. No doubt, he deserved to be a winner!
Amogst the seniors, there was this 14yr old Anmol Samant from Rainbow International School whose line and length made us go in awe. Anmol was one amongst the hundreds who stood out with his accuracy. Anmol’s pace was also quite impressive for his age hitting stumps in all the 3rounds while also nailing the single timber. Both the winners were awarded a stunning Kit bag, a winners certificate from NATARAJ PENS and Cricketgraph, Nataraj Pens Goodie along with media coverage.
Both these boys were the winners of the Kalyan Chapter and are surely to look for in the future.
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It was the all important finals match of the tournament between two promising teams namely National English School and Kanchan High School as Vasai(1) ground where in National School won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim of making a big 1st innings total.
National School batting first were all out for 150runs batting first as the entire batting line up crumbled apart their in-form Arpit who scored a anchoring knock of 75runs. With 4ducks and only 2batsman managing to score in two digits, National School must have been bundled out for a very low total had Arpit not showed some solidity at the crease. Deepak Gupta and Karan Vaishnav took 7wkts between themselves where in they hardly conceded runs to keep the batsman on their toes.
Chasing a modest total of 151, National School gave an excellent fightback with the ball as they bundled out the opposition for just 91runs. The bowlers gave a tough fight bowling really tight hardly allowing any batsman to score freely. Jash Tandel with 3wkts was the pick of the bowlers while the rest of the boys also supported well taking 2wkts each. National School won the finals by 59runs where in Arpit as declared ‘man of the match’. With 337runs which included 3fifties and a hundred with a best score of 147 in 5innings, Arpit was also declared the ‘Best Batsman of the Tournament’ and ‘Man of the series’ for his consistent batting. Vasai-Virar Mayor Shri. Rupeshji jadhav, wise mayor Prakash Rodriks, Sabhapati Shree Pravin Shetty amongst other dignitaries were present in the prize distribution ceremony which was held on 31.01.18.
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Played between two strong teams namely New Hind Sports Club and Sanjeevani Cricket Academy at the Parsee Gymkhana Ground, it was the all important finals of the tournament where in Sanjeevani C.A won the toss and elected to bat first.
While Sanjeevani batting first was struggling at one point at 39/4, it was the talented Nutan Goel at the middle order who resurrected the innings and brought his team back into the game. Coming in at no.7, Nutan Goel smashed a quickfire 52 off 38balls which included 4fours and excellent running between the wickets. No.5 Adit (27) and No.8 Bhavesh Yadav (31*) also played well around Nutan to take their team total to a respectable 181/6 in 30 overs. Spinner Ayush Sawant with 3/17 in 5overs bowled well being the pick of the bowlers.
Sanjeevani gave a fitting reply with the ball as they restricted New Hind Sports Club to just 112runs all out while defending their modest total. All the bowlers did a commendable job with Yasin Saudagar, Zenith Sachdev, Manan Bhatt & Aburag Singh taking 2wkts each. It was a stunning finale win for the Sanjeevani Cricket Academy where they lift the trophy while Nutan’s crucial 52 remained the highlight perfomance of the match.
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