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When the school team provides the early platform to make your mark, naturally it also becomes famous when the player makes it big. Thats how everyone first heard about Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s school — DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir School Shyamali, Ranchi.
In Mumbai, around the late 1980s, when Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli were making waves and breaking through to the top level, their alma mater, Sharadashram Vidyamandir School in Dadar, was flooded with admission requests from budding cricketers. Everyone wanted to be coached by Tendulkar’s school coach, the late Ramakant Achrekar.
In his nets at Kamat Memorial plot at Shivaji Park, young cricketers from various parts of the country would arrive to take cricketing lessons.
It wasn’t very different for Anjuman-I-Islam either. From Salim Durrani to Ghulam Parkar and Wasim Jaffer, this was a school that produced cricketing talent by the hatfulls. Among the current stars, Yashasvi Jaiswal is a shining example.
Mumbai’s famed school cricket tales finds another chapter after the success of Rohit Sharma, product of Swami Vivekanand International School (SVIS). If Tendulkar and Kambli had put Sharadashram on the Indian cricket map, Rohit and Shardul Thakur have ensured their school, SVIS, Gorai, also merits a presence there. Of course, the folklore of Sharadasharam and coach Achrekar remains second to none.
Interestingly, Rohit’s school coach, Dinesh Lad, also began his cricket journey under Achrekar Sir at Shivaji Park. Following in his guru’s footsteps, he was the first coach from Mumbai after Achrekar to be awarded the Dronacharya Award (2022).
“To have two cricketers in the World Cup team is a big thing for any school. After Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli played in the 1996 World Cup team, coached by my guru Ramakant Achrekar, it is a proud moment for me to have two players from our school, Rohit and Shardul, playing in this World Cup,” says Lad, who is now the Mumbai Under-19 coach.
“When we won the Giles Shield (U-14) in 2007, we were the first school beyond Bandra to have won the title. In 2007 also, we became the first team from the suburbs (beyond Bandra) to win the Harris Shield (U-16).”
Rohit played for the school team from 1999 (seventh standard) till 2003 (10th standard).
“Under his captaincy, we reached the semifinals,” says Lad. “The impact of SVIS and Rohit is that it has lifted Mumbai suburbs school cricket. Earlier school cricket was restricted till Dadar, before Rizvi Springfield from Bandra started doing well,” he adds.
While the school had already made its mark in Mumbai after Rohit made it to the Indian team, everyone sat up and took notice when Shardul Thakur played with Rohit in the Indian team, making it two players from the school in the Indian team. The year 2021 will forever be mentioned in SVIS’ history after their two students played decisive roles in two big Test match wins for India – the epic Brisbane Test match of the 2020-21 series and The Oval Test match in 2021.
In the dramatic series decider at Gabba, played in January, 2021, Shardul Thakur came in as an injury replacement and took a seven-wicket match haul and scored an invaluable 67 after Rohit had laid the foundation with an innings of 44 as opener. Later that year, on the tour of England, the two SVIS students again got together at The Oval Test to shine in an Indian victory. Shardul scored a fighting 57 and 60 in the two innings and picked three key wickets while Rohit hit a match-turning 127 in the second innings. These two performances turned the spotlight firmly on the Gorai school.
SVIS are the reigning Giles Shield champions, having won it two times in a row. The school team has become a force to reckon with dominating other tournaments they take part in as well. They have won the Mumbai Indians inter-school tournament in both the under-14 and under-16 age groups.
After Rohit and Shardul, Harmeet Singh from SVIS played for India under-19, Sidhesh Lad played India A, Suved Parkar and Prasad Pawar are playing Ranji for Mumbai. Parkar made a double hundred on debut; last season both were in the Mumbai Ranji team against Maharashtra where Prasad made 145. Atif Attarwala has played List A and T20 for Mumbai.
Almost 90 players from the school have played for Mumbai in various age groups, under-14, U-16, U-19, U-22 and the senior team.
“It is a very big thing for our school that Rohit not only played for India, but he also broke records and became India’s captain too. I have suggested to the school management that out of our three gates, we name two gates after Rohit and Shardul,” says Lad.
“Every April-May, more than 150 boys from across all parts of India and world come to seek sir’s (Lad) guidance or there would be parents bringing them to sir to take his opinion. Rohit and Shardul are a big factor. Everybody wants to be Rohit,” says Mahesh Lotlikar, the assistant coach of SVIS. Not just from India, NRI kids also come to train with Lad.
Last year, former South Africa pacer Makhaya Ntini’s son, Thando, too had flown down to train with Lad for a month.
The main reason Mumbai’s cricket was dominated by schools up to Dadar was that the big maidans were all located from Churchgate to Dadar, allowing easy training access to school kids from the area.
Hence, the remarkable thing about Rohit’s school’s cricket achievement is that all these performances have been delivered without a full-fledged cricket field. The size of SVIS’ school field ends with the fast bowler’s run-up. The management has fully backed coach Lad though and built him good turf wickets. Rohit & Co have made optimal use of the available facility and risen to the top.
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