Meet Rohit Sharma’s childhood rival who scored record 29-ball 100

Mumbai: India cricketer Rohit Sharma played junior school cricket with him in the Under-14 group. While Sharma won the international ticket, his toddler opponent could not. Even after being ignored by Mumbai team and Indian Premier League (IPL), Neil Narvekar did not give up. On Sunday, few weeks after his old friend (Rohit) registered his second double hundred in limited overs, he scored a record 29-ball century for Parkophene Cricketers in a domestic Kanga League match against hosts Khar Gymkhana in the Purshottam Shield (B Division) here.

Though a domestic match, a record can never be written off. So what if it is not recognised by International Cricket Council, Narvekar outclassed both Shahid Afridi (37 balls) and Corey Anderson’s (36 balls) numbers to score the fastest hundred ever in the history of Kanga League.

By this act, he not only brought back colour to the 66-year-old domestic cricket league– once played by Gavaskars and Vengsarkars – but also attested his hunt for the top.

“We (talking about Rohit) played junior cricket together in the U-14 category. We were in rival schools. He was in Swami Vivekanand International School and I was in St Francis D’Assisi,” said Narvekar, whose knock comprised 12 sixes and six boundaries. The lad’s first 50 came off 11 balls.

“Rohit was always better than lot of us. He deserves where he is. As for me, I was not picked for Mumbai,” said the left-handed batsman. Like Rohit, he is also from Borivali.

The 26-year-old had filled up the IPL form as a domestic cricketer in 2013 but remain unnoticed. Does he think this record knock can brighten his chance in the next season?

“I am not thinking much about IPL. I have to be consistent and score few more hundreds. This was a one-off knock. If I don’t maintain the runs, it is unfair on those players who have been forever steady in the middle.

IPL is big, lot of exposure but being a cricketer, being in any team is fun. The level doesn’t matter,” said Narvekar.

Narvekar’s parents had come to witness their son play for the first time and the cricketer wanted to entertain them.

“When I went on to bat, I had 40 minutes. I was surprised to see my parents who never came for any of my match before. I thought they might question my cricket had I not performed well. I wanted to show them how good I am,” he said.

Narvekar had another record-holder in his Parkophene squad which added to his confidence. Prithvi Shaw – the 15-year-old wonder kid who slammed a 546 in an inter-school match last year– scored a century in the same match against Khar.

“Having Prithvi around is a positive influence. I hope he goes on to play for India,” he added.

Let’s hope this cricketer dons the Mumbai Indians jersey soon. Selectors, are you listening?