Gujarati student scores 498 in U-19 event to become India’s joint third-highest scorer

In the e Diwan Ballubhai Cup (U-19 age group), Desai was the player of the match, scoring 498 off 320, 86 fours, and seven sixes as his team easily defeated.

18-year-old St Xavier’s Loyola Hall student Drona Desai has joined an exclusive group of players in Gujarat inter-school cricket history with the greatest score on record. At Shivaay Cricketing Hub in Karai, Gandhinagar, Desai scored 498 of his team’s 844 runs.

JL English School for 40 and 92 runs on either side of their absurd time at bat. This victory was achieved by an innings and 712 runs.

His 498 is tied for third-highest score in all of India; the highest is Pranav Dhanawade’s undefeated 1,009* from the Bhandari Cup inter-school cricket competition in 2016, followed by Prithvi Shaw, an Indian cricketer, who scored 546 in the Harris Shield in 2013.

I regret missing the 500 mark by two runs. Drona Desai.

Desai lamented losing out on the 500-run mark, saying that none of his colleagues had told him he was batting at 498. He gave gratitude to his instructor, with whom he had trained since he was very young, for instilling in him the habit of not playing streaky shots until he was fourteen years old.

“I regret that I was short of 500 by two runs. I’m quite pleased overall. Since I was seven years old, I have been training under Jay Prakash Patel sir, and I dedicate this knock to him. I learnt to value my wicket by JP Sir. I hit seven sixes and eighty-six fours in my inning.

The majority of the fours were from the ground. Until I was 14, he instructed me to just hit ground shots. It was only after that that I began to practise aerial shots,” Desai said, as reported by The Indian Express.

His St. Xavier’s coach Mitul Patel talked extensively about his positive batting attributes.

“His maturity at bat is his greatest asset. He approaches each ball with merit. He uses sound method. Patel continued, “He plays every ball as late as possible and can play with ease on the front or back foot.

Whether Desai can take advantage of this unpredictability and possibly break into the state team and senior teams is still to be seen.

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This is similar to how Gujarat’s opening batsman Priyank Panchal and former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel made the most of their time under Patel’s tutelage.