Mumbai-based teenager Pranav Dhanawade, who took the cricketing fraternity by storm with his record-smashing knock of 1009 runs in an under-16 school match in January 2016, become the talk of the town on Friday (December 29) as the report of the 17-year-old quitting the game has emerged out from nowhere.
After Dhanawade‘s early success people in Mumbai had started drawing his parallel with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Furthermore, the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) had offered Pranav a scholarship of Rs 10,000 per month and Air India also signed a contract with him after his heroics in school cricket. However, all the adulation didn’t go down well with the young prodigy as the burden of expectations and pressure of scoring consistent runs have started taking a toll on his cricket.
Seeing the drastic slump in his cricket career, Pranav’s father has decided to return the scholarship money to MCA and urged them to stop it as he don’t want his son to come under public scrutiny anymore.
“I want my son to do well in life without any pressure. Had he not succeeded with the scholarship, people would have taunted him. From now on, he is on his own. Whatever happens from here on, he can keep his head high,” Pranav’s father Prashant, who is an auto-rickshaw driver, said according to Hindustan Times.
The Kalyan born Dhanawade is also pleased with the decision as he believes that there is no burden of expectations on him and thus he can enjoy his cricket from now on.
“I feel relaxed now. I scored 85 a day ago for my club and felt very well. I want to achieve things on my own. Since I am primarily a wicketkeeper, I am concentrating to excel in it along with batting now,” Pranav was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Pranav’s coach Mobin Sheikh also reckons that the youngster lost his focus owing to a lot of media attention.
“At such a young age, you can’t decide what you can do with money. Besides, facilities are not good in this area. It would have been better if the MCA had sent him somewhere for special training or ensured he received the best facility for honing his skills here,” Sheikh told Hindustan Times.
