Dhoni, Tendulkar laud marathon-boy Dhanawade

MUMBAI: India limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and star batsman Ajinkya Rahane on Tuesday congratulated Mumbai school cricketer Pranav Dhanawade for his world record-shattering innings of 1009 not out in an H.T. Bhandari Cup Under-16 inter-school tournament match.

They joined batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and veteran offspinner Harbhajan Singh, who also heaped praises on the wonder boy of willow for his unmatched, superb effort. Pranav's epic 323-ball knock consisted of a staggering 59 sixes and 129 fours. His team, K.C. Gandhi High School, declared their innings at 1465 for 6.

He batted for 395 minutes and had a strike rate of 312.38. The youngster broke a 116-year-old record after surpassing 652 on Monday, thus taking over the reins of the highest individual score (including minor cricket) from A.E.J. Collins of England.

Tendulkar was the first among the cricketers to laud Dhanawade's efforts.