Madhav Apte to Pranav Dhanawade: Cricket is about success and failure

Mumbai Cricket Association president Sharad Pawar felicitates Pranav Dhanawade while MCA's Jt Secretary Dr PV Shetty (left), former India batsman Pravin Amre and Madhav Apte (right) look on. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Mumbai's new wonder kid Pranav Dhanawade, who became famous worldwide for his mind-boggling 1009-run feat last week, received some sound advice from former India opener Madhav Apte yesterday.

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Mumbai Cricket Association president Sharad Pawar felicitates Pranav Dhanawade while MCA's Jt Secretary Dr PV Shetty (left), former India batsman Pravin Amre and Madhav Apte (right) look on. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Sharad Pawar yesterday felicitated the 15-year-old KC Gandhi English School (Kalyan) lad for his record-breaking highest individual score in an innings against Arya Gurukul School during the HT Bhandari inter-school match last Wednesday.

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Pranav Dhanawade

Pranav received the MCA scholarship amount for his first year of R1,20,000 from chief guest Apte.

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Apte congratulated Pranav for his record-breaking knock and also advised him to keep his head down and not take the game for granted.

"You have the talent and that's why you achieved this rare feat, but please keep in mind that this game is about success and failure," said Apte, who brought up Sir Don Bradman's last-innings duck at The Oval in 1948, which prevented the great Australian from achieving an average of 100.00.

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MCA President Pawar revealed the reason behind having 83-year-old Apte as chief guest of the evening. "There is a specific reason why we called Madhavrao as a chief guest for this function. I remembered his Giles Shield record of 10 wickets in an innings for Wilson School against Robert Money in 1944," said Pawar.

The name Pranav has become utterly famous among cricket lovers the world over. However, Pawar kept referring to the young cricketer as ‘Pravin'. In fact, the MCA chief mentioned ‘Pravin' seven times! "Even a player from such a small family can do wonders. Always keep (your) feet on the ground. There may be more such felicitations, but don't think only about success and glory," Pawar told Pranav.

Meanwhile, former India skipper and MCA vice-president Dilip Vengsarkar, who felicitated Pranav last week at Dadar Union Sporting Club in Matunga, was not to be seen at yesterday's function.