Vijay Gohil always dreamt of playing at the Mecca of Indian cricket — Brabourne Stadium.
On Wednesday, the 15-year-old not only fulfilled his dream but also played a major role in Rizvi Springfield taking a first innings lead of 69 runs against IES Raja Shivaji in the Harris Shield final. The left-arm spinner’s seven-wicket haul helped Rizvi bundle out their opponents for 190.
At stumps, the defending champions were reduced to 26 for two in their second innings with Prithvi Shaw (6) and Salman Khan (12) at the crease. Rizvi now have an overall lead of 95 runs.
Gohil was all excited after playing for the first time at the Brabourne. “To play at an international venue is a great feeling. I always wanted to play over here. I was a ball boy during the India-Sri Lanka Test match in 2009. I saw people clapping whenever Harbhajan took a wicket. Today, I can feel the same but the audience here were my teammates,” said a shy Gohil.
“To take seven wickets when the chips were down has already given me a kick,” he added. The youngster, who didn’t play in the semifinals and a couple of league matches due to his Shatkar Trophy commitments, said the conditions weren’t easy to bowl on.
“The wicket wasn’t turning and it was easy for batsmen. I just kept bowling on the right spot and as straight as possible, as a result I got many batsmen leg before and bowled.”
Coach Raju Pathak was all praise for the youngster. “He was really smart on the field. He didn’t try anything extraordinary and just stuck to the basics,” Pathak said.
Brief scores: All finals: Elite group: Rizvi Springfield 259 & 26/2 vs IES Raja Shivaji 190 (Laxman Manjrekar 41, Gaurang Parsekar 27, Vijay Gohil 7/29); Plate Group ‘A’: Anjuman-I-Islam Allana Eng HS 418 & 121/7 vs IES Secondary (Mulund) 45 all out (I Kazi 5/12, I Mansoori 4/14); Plate Group ‘B’: Lilavatibai Podar 286 bt Cardinal Gracias (Bandra) 109 & 134 (S Badhe 5/53); Plate Group ‘D’: IES Secondary 87 (K Ghosh 5/25) vs Oxford Public (Kandivli) 175 (S Joshi 83; P Borad 4/50)
