Balmohan Vidyamandir School is definitely raising their stakes day by day. From playing in the Plate Group last year, Balmohan team has worked hard & given great performances over the time to raise their game to a different level. It is because of their sheer hard work they are playing in the Elite group of the Harris Shield Tournament this year. That’s a meteoric rise for a hard working team which has given consistent performances every time over the past one year.
Their strong performance can rightly be reflected in the ongoing game against Jamnabai Narsee Team where they have displayed a lot of resilience against the Jamnabai team. Winning the toss first, Balmohan went off to a solid start with the help of Shreyas Pathak and Swarup Kamble. Shreyas who was going through a rough patch requested the coach to open the innings & it reaped heavy dividends for the team.
Both the openers looked rock solid at the crease and were looking poised to score a big hundred. Kamble got off to a good start but lost his wicket at 33 facing 105 balls. It was altogether a different case for Shreyas Pathak as he continued playing good shots and scored a superb hundred in no time. His free flow with the bat continued even after he completed his century as he remained unbeaten on 162 off just 186 balls. Shreyas played classy shots which were really good to the eyes. Not a single bowler could decode his solid technique and resilience at the crease. The best part about his innings was he was completely calm and never played a risky shot despite playing at a strike rate of almost 85. Other batsman came in & supported him nicely forming useful partnerships. Atharva Chauhan also scored a splendid half century as Balmohan Team finished the day at 309/5 declare. Jamnabai bowlers toiled hard but it was not enough against the free flowing Shreyas who batted like a wall for his team. Jamnabai team is under pressure to chase the target where in they have already lost two big wickets.
The coach himself stated that their aim is to win the match outright to be on the top of the table. Balmohan boys are aiming to win this match upfront against Jamnabai and their eyes are surely on the prestigious Harris Shield Trophy.
Arch Mavericks had won the previous three matches and they are qualified for the super eight but still they fought with a lot of conviction. Their captain advised the players to stick to their natural game & not to take the game lightly as a bonus point would lift them to the top of the table. Opener Sumit Nigade followed every word of his captain’s advice to perfection putting up a standout performance with the bat again.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Arch Mavericks got off to a great start where Pranay Ranka & Sumit stitched a great partnership. Pranay Ranka was batting really well & Sumit rotated the strike quite effectively with him. It was after his captain’s dismissal Sumit Nigade decided to open his arms. Moreover, Sumit displayed a wide array of shots in his brazen century coming off just 60 balls. That knock surely led the foundation for a big target for Arch Mavericks. Sumit Smashed 13 fours & 2 entertaining sixes to enthrall the spectators with his breath-taking batting. His six over deep mid-wicket against off spinner Yogendra Vitkar was his personal favorite. Though Arch Mavericks were practical in their approach but they had decided to target the spin bowlers & take full advantage of the loose balls.
Arch Mavericks managed to score 196/6 in 20 overs putting the onus of chasing a big target on VK Architects. The Arch maverick bowled really well restricting the opposition to just 100 runs & winning the match by 96 runs. Vimal Hansraj was the pick of the bowlers picking up 4 wickets for just 6 runs which helped them to dominate over the opposition.
Sumit Nigade has showed a lot of consistency & is improving his game day by day. Sumit and the whole team would surely be carrying the good momentum in the super eight & will be looking to perform well to lift the trophy in the AT20 Tournament.
Some people are born to make it big & perform well at crucial moments. They may be regular in their day to day routine but they make it big when it is needed. Off the fields he is an established doctor and on a cricket field he is slowly becoming infamous within the bowler community. Dr. Ashish Dadhas played a very special knock of 159* off just 54 balls in the ongoing district level tournament of Doctors (Thane Superb Premier League).
This knock reminded of Adam Gilchrist’s 149 in the 2007 World Cup finals. Coming in at no.3, Kalyan team had no idea what sort of massacre Dr. Ashish Dadhas was going to bring. Fresh from a 56 ball 90 in his last match, his madcap batting was a sight to behold for the spectators as he scored a stroke laden 159* off just 54 balls breaking numerous records on his way. Ashish completely annihilated the Kalyan bowlers with his madcap batting which included a record 13 monstrous sixes to go with 14 boundaries. He spared a few good bowlers but he hardly sympathized with the opposition playing at a strike rate of almost 300! He hit six on 92 and then took a single to complete his century. The mayhem just multiplied after century.
It was because of his gigantic knock, Mumbai Warriors managed to score a huge target of 216 for 5 in just 15overs. The bowlers also did a fantastic job for Mumbai Warriors as they restricted the opposition to mere 91 runs & winning the match by 125 runs.
Dr. Ashish Dadhas who has developed quite a reputation now as an aggressive & hard hitting batsman, rated this innings as his best till date. It was surely a doomsday for kalyan bowlers & a day to rejoice for Mumbai Warriors team as they were qualified for the finals. Dr. Ashish Dadhas was not only adjudged man of the match for his 159* but he was also adjudged “Best Batsman” for scoring 260 runs at an average of 130 & a strike rate of almost 230 in the tournament.
Playing against a strong & experienced line-up like Payyade is always tough & Muslim United did felt the heat after winning the toss and electing to bat first. The tough bowling from Payyade bowlers ensured not a single batsman could score above 30. Nikhil Bagal was the only batsman down the order who looked good enough for his 55 ball 29.
Eventually, Muslim United were all out for just 130 runs in 44.5 overs. Pradeep Sahu & Rajesh Pawar showed their mettle with the bowl taking six wickets together. Both of them took three wicket hauls to dismantle the batting line up of Muslim United. While Sahu gave important breakthroughs at the top of the order, Pawar cleaned up the lower order with his effective bowling.
Sahu has evolved a lot & looks more matured than ever with the ball putting up consistent performances for his side. While chasing 131, it was a smooth & simple chase for Payyade winning the match by six wickets. Payyade openers put up a brilliant show with the bat where Omkar Khanvilkar scoring a gritty 47 off 89 balls while he got enough of support from his partner Amogh Bhatkal who scored a 43 ball 37. Though Muslim United lost the match but Pratik Sargade’s efforts were also notice worth taking 3 wickets for just 25 runs.
Payyade’s comfortable win over Muslim United is an indicator of their current form & they surely look favorites to win the ongoing Purshottam Shield Tournament
The Azad Maidan witnessed an entertaining match between Abbott Healthcare & Omni Marines in the ongoing Shiraz-e-hind tournament. Abbott won the toss & put themselves to bat first as they had a strong batting line up in their arsenal. Though they lost the first wicket quickly but right handed opener Rehman Siddique’s stroke filled 48 off just 38 balls at the top of the order gave Abbott a lot of momentum.
Abbott who were 2 down for around 70 runs needed someone who could anchor the innings till the end & so came Ishan Mithbavkar. The right handed wicket keeper batsman played one of the classiest knocks we could ever see. While batsman on the other side were coming in & putting quick cameos, Ishan stuck to the crease like a wall. Ishan Mithbavkar scored a classy 102 off just 101 balls which included 10 perfectly timed boundaries. Never once did he look troubled & neither did he try playing any rash shots. Ishan was also quite energetic between the wickets & rotated the strike quite nicely. Shantanu Chaudhary also provided decent support to Ishan scoring an aggressive 35 ball 47.
Remaining unbeaten till the end, Mithbavkar gave us vibes of Laxman & Dravid through his patient knock of 102. Ishan’s century helped Abbott post a fine total of 283 in 40 overs which is on any given day tough to chase. Omni Marines looked confident but none of their batsman could convert their starts into big knocks apart from their no.6 batsman Prem Jadhav’s 63(53 balls). Abbott successfully managed to restrict them to 240 all out in just 37.5overs. Sandeep Bhoir bowled well chipping in with the last three wickets of Omni Marines & finishing the game in style.
Coach Chandrashekar Kalamkar must be happy to see his boys perform so well & man of the match Ishan must be high on confidence too. Considering his class & temperament, Ishan is surely a batsman to watch out for in the next matches of the tournament.
When two talented teams come together, an exciting competition is bound to happen. That was exactly the case in the ongoing Harris Shield U16 Tournament. Winning the toss first St.Mary School chose to bat first with an aim of scoring a big target. However, things took a complete U-turn after Anjuman Islam boys displayed a brave performance with the ball. St. Mary School was whistled out for just 71 runs in their first innings & major credit must go to the spin wizardry of Ajit Gaud.
The right-arm off spinner bamboozled the batsman with his brilliant spin & took a stunning fifer in the first innings. Moreover Gaud never allowed a single batsman to settle & he consistently broke partnerships. Ajit Gaud also got able support from Anzar Mirza who also picked up three wickets in the first innings & 2 in the second.
Trailing 71, St. Mary bowled well at the start removing the top order batsman & snapping up early wickets but it was some great late show from and Prashant Mishra who turned out to be the saviors in distress for their team scoring 72 and 43 respectively to lead their team to 231. Anjuman Islam had an upper hand with a lead of 160 runs & the confidence was quite evident looking at their body language on the field. St. Mary batsman again broke down in the 2nd innings against the tight bowling attack of Anjuman Islam boys managing just 121 runs & losing the match by an innings and 39 runs. Ajit Gaud’s magical form continued even in the second innings where he took another 3 wickets to complete his tally of 8 wickets in the match.
Their Coach & ex-India probable Iqbal Thakur who puts in a lot of hard work for his team must be proud of his boys & especially Ajit Gaud after his mesmerizing performance with the ball.
Winning their first league match against Bernard Shipping, Capgemini has surely started off on a positive note in the ongoing Dreamz Corporate T20 Tournament. Capgemini had a few advantages too as they had witnessed other teams playing on the same day at the same pitch which made them aware of the pitch conditions. Losing the toss & sent in to bat first, that was what exactly Capgemini team were looking for.
Batting first, Capgemini felt early jitters losing three wickets in quick succession. The game changed for Capgemini after Aditya Mhatre came in & played a splendid knock of 51 runs of just 35 balls. The captain had already advised to make full use of the new ball. Aditya Mhatre followed his skipper’s advice & smashed 5 aggressive boundaries and a huge six over midwicket in his fluent yet aggressive knock of 51. Moreover he crafted useful partnerships with the middle order.
Chasing a mammoth 197 in 20 overs, Bernard Shipping were already feeling the pressure. Add to it, Capgemini bowlers did a fantastic job as each bowler chipped in with wickets. Yogesh Thakkar was the pick of the bowlers snapping up 3 wickets for just 15 runs in his quota of 3.5 overs. The pressure was quite evident on the opposition team as they were bundled out for just 71 runs in 16.5 overs.
Capgemini comfortably won the match by 134 runs and 3 overs to spare and they look all set to seal their place for qualifying in the quarters and semis by putting up a good show in the matches to come!
Cricket Heritage Tour an initiative by Marine Sports now extends to new cities Delhi and Rajkot including Mumbai.
The Cricket heritage tour dates are as follows,
Delhi – 23 October 2016 – Rs.5000/-
Mumbai – 6 Novemeber 2016 – Rs.5000/-
Rajkot – 14 November 2016 – Rs.5000/-
Mumbai – 11 December 2016 – Rs.7500/-
Pune – 16 January 2017 – Rs.5000/-
For participation call 8879417291 or email info@cricketgraph.com
—- THE CRICKET HERITAGE TOUR DETAILS —-
To all those people who have spent their better years of life in Mumbai, ofcourse know about Mumbai Darshan. Am I right? On the similar lines of Mumbai Darshan, Theo Briganza, the owner of Marine Sports, a shop, from where the great cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar bought cricket books, came up with something called as the Heritage Tour. The tour was conducted on 14th August, Sunday, and was undoubtedly a grand success.
People from different fraternities came on the tour to see the historic cricket grounds of Bombay (when it comes to cricket, I prefer calling it Bombay cricket, rather than Mumbai cricket). A bus was arranged to carry the cricket lovers across the different cricket venues in the island city. The tour started at sharp 9 in the morning from Police Gymkhana and Yajurvindra Singh, former India player, opened the innings with a crisp introduction to the tour. The ball was set rolling and after having a sumptuous breakfast, the cricket fans headed to different clubs in Bombay; clubs at Kennedy Seaface, the iconic Wankhede Stadium, where India clinched the 2011 World Cup, and Brabourne Stadium. The participants got the opportunity to see the dressing rooms (home team and visiting team) and it just got better when some of them got the chance to sit on the same chairs on which players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni sit. The atmosphere was electrifying and the tourists were having the best times of their lives.
At 1pm, lunch was arranged at CCI. Post the lunch, Madhav Apte, former Test cricketer eloquently spoke about local cricket in Bombay, which was followed by Pranab Mukherjee’s testimony to Subhash Gupte, one of the finest spin bowlers in Test cricket, whom Mukherjee knew very closely. Pranab, a former cricketer, came all the way from Kolkata to speak about Subhash.
Later in the day, the bus proceeded to some of the famous grounds of South Bombay; Oval Maidan, Azad Maidan, Bombay Gymkhana and Cross Maidan. With every stop, the excitement in the camp was scaling to a new height. Tea break was taken at the famous Press Club, where the cricket lovers, were welcomed by the couple of all-time great cricket commentators; Ayaz Memon and Harsha Bhogle. The participants had a long and memorable interaction with the two of them. The presence of mind, the sense of humour and the treasure of knowledge carried by the commentators floored the tourists. Inarguably this was the highlight of the tour.
The bus then descended to see Shivaji Park Gymkhana, where the tour guide showed the nets of Ramakant Achrekar, coach of Sachin Tendulkar. In the interest of the time, the tour entered the last leg of the day. At the MIG Club, a lavish dinner accompanied by cocktails was organized. A panel led by Karsan Ghavri, former India player, Amol Muzumdar and Milind Rege, former Mumbai Ranji players and Yajurvindra Singh mesmerized the audience with their discussions about Bombay cricket. Muzumdar and Rege shared their dressing room stories, which garnered tremendous appreciation from the fans.
Though it was the time that such a tour was conducted in India, Briganza and his team ensured that they did everything and left no stone unturned. Milind Wagle and S Kishore, cricket commentators, added to the tour, through their fluent hosting skills and kept the cricket lovers engaged throughout the journey.
As a token of remembrance, Theo gave away t-shirts, hats and mugs to the participants. “This time we had 30 participants. We plan to reach out to the corporates for the upcoming tour in October and would like to see more and more cricket fans come on board”, averred Theo Briganza.
The next Heritage Tour is scheduled to be in October 2016. For all the cricket lovers, get ready to sink deep in the enormous sea of cricket. Theo Briganza and his team hope to see you all on board. For more information please contact 8879418366 | info@cricketgraph.com
For individual and group bookings buy online –
https://www.cricketgraph.com/product/cricket-heritage-tour-in-mumbai/
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Vishal Jain is a certified coach, having completed Level O from MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association). He started cricket coaching under the able guidance of Sulakshan Kulkarni in Thane from 2004 and was associated with Kulkarni for two years. Then the 38 year old moved to Nirmal Cricket Academy, Mulund, Mumbai for another year and worked closely with Ravi Thakkar. After gathering sufficient experience in the field of cricket coaching, Jain started his own academy in Mulund by the name Excel Cricket Academy. He didn’t stop with one, today, Vishal has multiple academies spread across Mumbai and the close-by suburbs.
Apart from Excel Cricket Academy, which is his first ever cricket coaching academy, Jain has come up with many more; Excel Indoor Cricket facilities in Thane, Dombivli Gymkhana Cricket Academy, Ashok Tower Cricket Clinic for residents of Lower Parel and Sports Skill Learning Proprietorship Company which maintains and develops indoor and outdoor facilities. Vishal provides proper coaching, teaches batting and bowling techniques, conducts fitness sessions and special focus is laid on fielding drills.
As a player, Jain is a right hand opening batsman and right arm off spinner. He played for his school Shardashram Vidyamandir English Medium, Dadar, Mumbai, under the able aegis of Ramakant Achrekar (coach of Sachin Tendulkar) for five years from 1988 to 1993. He also played for D.G.Ruparel during his college days. He was the captain of Rizvi College in senior college cricket for three years. Vishal was blessed to represent Mumbai at the state level as well at different age groups; U-16, U-19 and U-22. He played cricket at University level as well. When he started working, he represented Mahindra and Mahindra for two years in Times Shield A division, RCF Sports Club for a year and DY Patil Sports Academy for four years. He also captained Akbar Travels Sports Club for three years and B Arunkumar Sports Club in Times Shield at different points of time. He has been playing Kanga League for the last 16 years.
Vishal has bagged many accolades in the game of cricket; Best Batsman award in Kanga League C division for DY Patil Sports Academy in 2009, Best Batsman award for T20 Commissioner Trophy in B division in 2013 and Fastest Fifty prize (52 runs off 13 balls) in 2016 during the T20 Thane Premier League.
Vishal Jain is not only a good cricketer in himself but also endeavours to bring out the best in others. Cricketgraph.com wishes him all the very best for a bright future.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, L&T Infotech posted a challenging 169-4 in 20 overs against WNS in the final match of Dreamz T20 Cricket Tournament that was played on 28th May at RBI ground, Mumbai. Abhimanyu Singh (53 runs off 23 balls) and Shiva Yadav (65 runs off 53 balls) got off to a flying start and provided a solid start to their team. Both these batsmen ran well between the wickets and played some good looking cricketing shots. They were a treat to watch. Rahul Kirodian, Mandar Garude and Rahul Kelaskar picked up one wicket each.
In reply, WNS was restricted to a paltry 94-9 in 20 overs, thus losing the match by a big margin of 75 runs. Middle order bat Sanket Manvekar top scored with 23 runs off as many balls, but was the lone fighter for his team. Vishal Mishra was brilliant with the ball as he accounted for 3-14 in his economical spell of four overs. Ankit Khanna and Ramnath Gupta chipped in with couple of wickets apiece.
It was a comprehensive win for L&T as they created a hat-trick by winning the Dreamz T20 Cricket Tournament three times in a row.