Ten-wicket Joy

Ranjane Cricket Academy coach Subhash Ranjane is elated after seeing his ward Sanjay Sharma snaffle a rich bag of 10 for 97 against Poona Club

Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, February 8, 2009

The heady feeling that a coach gets in seeing his ward excel is something only he can best describe. And for Ranjane Cricket Academy coach Subhash Ranjane, it's a day he will savour after seeing his ward Sanjay Sharma rip the heart of Poona Club Ltd, taking a magnificent match haul of 10 for 97 (6/33 in 1st inngs & 4/64), steering his side to an impressive victory in a Group B match at the Tata Motors ground. "Sanjay was very wayward when he first joined Ranjane Cricket Academy. He was putting the bowl all over the place. I insisted on him bowling to an one-stump line to improve his accuracy," he said of Sanjay, whose bodacious effort fetched him the Man of the Match award."What I liked about him is that he is a willing learner. I'm very happy to see him essay a big role in our victory."So, what does Ranjane think about the secret of his ten-wicket haul? "Well, Sanjay was swinging the ball prodigiously and was straying down the leg-side while bowling over the wicket. I told him to bowl round the wicket, and once he did that, he got rich dividends as he was getting the ball to nip into the Poona Club batsmen," Subhash explained.And for the boy in question who played for Mariya Sports Club, , it'not the first time that he had got a ten-wicket haul. "I want to make this a habit (of getting ten wickets in a match). I had earlier taken 11 for 78 for Mariya against the Kolkata Cricket Coaching Centre in Kolkata last year," the 9th standard student of Anjuman Islam, Mumbai.So schooling in Mumbai and cricketing in Pune. Won't be a tough ask balancing both studies and cricket? "My first passion is cricket but I don't want to overlook academics. I will find out a way so that both are pursued smoothly," he said.In another match, Varroc Vengsarkar Cricket Academy secured first innings lead over PDCA after they nearly forced a win after enforcing the follow-on on the latter.Brief Scores: Varroc Vengsarkar Cricket Academy: (I Innings) 267 all out: (Omkar Sankpal 97, Rohan Benhal 62, Hari Sawant 38, Indrajeet Pharate 4/75) v/s PDCA: (I Innings) 135 all out: (Dhanraj Shinde 40, Ashwin Kardekar 5/13) and (II Innings) 116/7: (Omkar Sankpal 5/40). Result: Match drawn (Varroc Vengsarkar Cricket Academy took 1st inngs lead).Poona Club Ltd: (I Innings): 88 all out: (Shantam Mehra 40, Sanjay Sharma 6/33) and (II Innings): 102 all out: (Shaikh Aquib 42, Sanjay Sharma 4/64) v/s Ranjane Cricket Academy: (I Innings): 190 all out: (Aniket Jagtap 54, Amannulla Shaikh 6/40) and (II Innings): 1 for no loss. Result: Ranjane Cricket Academy won the match by 10 wickets.