'Living up to name': Beed's 'Little Sachin' living his father's dream

His police officer mother didnt want cricket to be Sachin Dhas focus in life but the father knew that he was destined to make it big on the 22yard strip despite spending a better part of his life training on 11yard grass tracks that pass for infrastructure in his hometown BeedThe 19yearold Dhas is among the brightest prospects to emerge in the Indian team that is competing in the U19 World Cup in South Africa He has displayed superb game sense as the teams designated finisher with 294 runs at an above 100 strike rateOn Tuesday his 96run knock along with skipper Uday Saharans 81 was a key factor in ensuring that India sneaked into the U19 World Cup final for a fifth consecutive timeYou only have half pitches over here in Beed Sachin came here with his father when he was four and a half years old and even before going to South Africa he trained on half turfs said an ecstatic Sheikh Azhar the areas most famous coach who shaped Dhas early yearsFor a country which produces phenomenal cricketing talent often not because of but despite the system Sachins emergence as the next big thing from junior India stable shouldnt come as a surpriseSachin Dhasrsquo 101ball 116 studded with 11 fours and three sixes won him the aramco POTM Relive his knock U19WorldCup pictwittercom4fmeAKk0w9mdash ICC ICC February 2 2024Named after the iconic Mumbaikar who is synonymous with Indian cricket Sachin is a fan of Virat Kohli the modern great he has perhaps seen more closely although he wears the number 10 jersey which was owned by Tendulkar in every sense of the wordI named him after Sachin Tendulkar when he was born in 2005 because I was a huge fan but he also likes Virat Kohli a lot declared his beaming father Sanjay when PTI reached out to him to understand how Sachin was shaped into the promising talent he is nowSachin ka koi dost nahi hai Main hi uska dost hun Koi shaadi koi janamdin kahin gaya nahi Cricket se focus hate aisa kuch karne maine diya hi nahi He has no friends I am his only friend I have never allowed him to attend marriages birthday parties so that his focus never wavers he saidUski mummy police mein hain toh discipline hai His mom is in police and there is discipline in him added the proud father whose phone hasnt stopped ringing thanks to his sons achievements at the megaeventSachin bats at No 6 where either one is expected to go for big shots during slog overs or be the saviour after a toporder collapse like it happened in the semifinal when he arrived at the crease with the scoresheet reading 314 What followed was a batting masterclass under pressureAlso ReadUday and I never lost belief Sachin Dhas after scripting Indias comeback winThe rolling of wrists while executing pull shots against pacers and the perfect body balance while executing slog sweeps against spinners might look easy to the eye but it has come after years of practice and not enjoying life like other teenagersNot to forget the fact that his mother had a highrisk job which kept her away from home due to long and gruelling work shiftsIt was in 2010 when his mother Surekha got a job with Maharashtra Police and is now an Assistant Police Inspector APIAs a police officer her working hours arent fixed and she never wanted cricket to be Sachins sole focus We would have our differences but I knew that my son will only become a cricketer Sanjay recalledGradually she understood and now watches his World Cup games on her phone in between duty he laughedAsked about his practice hours Dhas senior revealed Four hours in the morning and three and half hours in the evening including gym work Its seven and half hours per day I must give credit to Azhar his coach Without him we wouldnt have seen this dayIn between discussing his sons game Sanjay also gushed about how close he is to himHe still sleeps beside me and whether he wants to have a meal at a restaurant or watch a movie I am his companion he saidIn Maharashtra there was a time when players in and around Pune represented the state team but in recent years a more open selection process has made it easier for talents emerging from far off corners to make a case for themselvesThe training part in Beed was certainly tough but not the selection part in age group state teams Maharashtra Cricket Association MCA has been fair to my son He performed at every level and he was always picked on meritWith agency inputs