NAGPUR: Just three years ago, Yash Chawde was striving in the skating rink. He was doing exceptionally well at state and national tournaments. Owing to an unclear future in skating, his father Shravan decided to put him into cricket. On Friday, Yash made his father proud by making a grand statement on the cricket field.
Yash (508 n.o; 178b, 81x4, 18x6) slammed unbeaten 508 runs and took his team to 714 for no loss on Friday. The right-hander Chawde created a record of highest individual score in limited overs format in inter-school cricket tournaments across India.
Courtesy Chawde's knock, Saraswati Vidyalaya also notched up a record total in 40 overs. Later, they bundled out Siddheshwar Vidyalaya for 9 runs in 5 overs in the Nagpur leg of Mumbai Indians Junior Inter School (Under-14) cricket tournament at Jhulelal Institute of Technology ground.
The 13-year-old Chawde is the second batter after Sri Lanka's Chirath Selleperuma to score 500+ runs in limited overs cricket. Selleperuma had scored 553 not out in an Under-15 inter-school tournament in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, in August 2022, noted statistician Mohandas Menon told TOI.
"According to my records, Chawde is only the 10th batter to make a score of 500+ across all formats and age groups. Out of 10, five batters in the list are Indians. They are Pranav Dhanawade (1009*), Priyanshu Moliya (556*), Prithvi Shaw (546), Dady Havewala (515) and Yash Chawde (508*)," said Menon.
Chawde, who played 178 balls and hit 81 boundaries and 18 sixes, and his partner Tilak Wakode (127 off 97b) were also involved in a record opening wicket partnership. "Yash started playing at the age of 11 after he left skating," said Yash's father, Shravan, who is a mid-day meal contractor.
Current Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal had scored 280+ for Saraswati Vidyalaya in VCA Under-14 inter-school tournament against Rajendra High School. "Faiz went on to play for India and is one of the leading batters in First Class cricket. Yash has it in him to replicate what Faiz has achieved," said Ravi Kulkarni, supervisor of Saraswati Vidyalaya.
The school is known for producing quality players. The most successful wicketkeeper from Vidarbha Akshay Wadkar and former Ranji opener Akshay Kolhar are also ex-students of Saraswati Vidyalaya.
The right-hander Chawde has scored more than 1000 runs for Saraswati Vidyalaya this season with two centuries in the Under-16 VCA tournament. He is already in VCA camp and has been consistently scoring runs. "He is disciplined and has good cricketing acumen. When he stands on the field, his body language makes him stand out. When he bats, it looks like he is 'lambey race ka ghoda'," said Kulkarni.
Chawde trains under Chandan Sah at Dr Ambedkar College Sports Academy (DACSA). "This is a big, big development for Yash. No matter who the opposition is, scoring 500 runs without giving any chance is commendable," said Prashant Bambal, senior coach at DACSA.
Earlier, in Vidarbha, Piyush Fulsunge had scored 469 runs in Under-16 inter-club tournament in 2011. Fulsunge had surpassed another Vidarbha batter Ali Zoren Khan's 461, which was also recorded in an inter-school meet in 2010.
