Unaware

Maharashtra Ranji cricketer Ankit Bawne, who won the BCCI's MA Chidambaram Trophy award for being the best U-15 cricketer in the country, says he wasn't aware of it until told by Pune Mirror
Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, February 11, 2009

The State cricket fraternity was swelling with pride after news trickled in that Ranji player Ankit Bawne was awarded the MA Chidambaram Trophy by BCCI for being the best Under-15 cricketer in the country.The 16-year-old pint-sized right-handed middle-order batsman has amassed over 1,200 runs at all age groups tourneys and it was this consistency that catapulted him to national attention.So did the Aurangabad lad expect to get the coveted award? "I was not in the know. I came to know this good news from you only. As far as expectations go, I don't know what to say," he blushes. "I am just happy to get the recognition"Bawne feels that he has evolved as a cricketer over the last one year. "I'm only 16, so there's so much to learn and coach Shaun Williams has been giving the tips to improve further."If he has to choose one knock which he cherishes the most in the last one year, which one would be that? "I reckon my double hundred (200) vs Saurashtra in Rajkot was an important as Maharashtra won that match," he says with a tenor of contentment.Maharashtra coach Shaun Williams poured praise on the young turk. "Ankit has got the right attitude to succeed. What I like the most about him is that he's very keen to learn all the time and when you see that kind of thing in a youngster, the job of a coach becomes joyful," he says.Dwelling specifically on his batting, Williams said a bit of fine-tuning has done a lot of good to his batting. "Ankit wasn't great cutter of the cricket ball before but trust me, he's improved his cut shot by leaps and bounds and made that shot as one of his potent weapon in his batting armoury," he added.