The scoresheet of IES VN Sule Guruji (Dadar) vs Al Barkat (Kurla) Harris Shield semifinal match made for an interesting reading. All the wickets of the Dadar school barring one belonged to one surname — Sardar.
Brothers Mukund, a seamer, and Rajesh, left-arm spinner, shared the spoils scalping eight wickets between them besides a run out to bundle IES out for 88 on Day One of the U-16 inter-school cricket tournament at Azad Maidan on Tuesday. The Kurla school were 91/4 at stumps.
While Mukund took 5/17, his younger brother Rajesh took 3/17. The run out was effected by the elder Sardar, which meant that he had a hand in six dismissals. Mukund did not believe in individual glory. Getting home the Shield was what mattered to him.
"Thank god I took one wicket, otherwise the entire scoresheet would have had Sardar," said Al Barkat medium-pacer Azhar Shaikh. He took the last IES wicket to fall, to which Mukund retorted, "You should have left it for one of us so that makes it would have made six for me and nine for us brothers."
Playing opportunities were always limited for the two siblings. They left their municipal school in Govandi three years back for Al Barkat with the hope of making the cricket side.
There has been no looking back for the brothers with each of them being part of Mumbai's U-14 team. "We never liked to study. All we wanted to do was play cricket. Coming here has not only improved our game but has also made us more serious about our studies," said 14-year-old Rajesh, who is fond of Algebra.
For advice, Rajesh, never fails to ask Mukund. "He knows how the pitch is going to behave and which side the ball is going to turn more since he opens the bowling," said Rajesh.
There may not be any serious rivalry between the two but Mahesh and Rajesh, like any other sibling duo, have their fare share of fights as well. "When it comes to cricket, I keep telling him to focus on his batting as well. All-rounders are much more valued and it will only help him get picked ahead of others. But he's hell bent on ignoring me," said 15-year-old Mukund.
The second semifinal between Rizvi Springfield (Bandra) and Don Bosco (Matunga) did not take place due to documentation issues regarding a student of the Bandra school. A parent of a Dahisar school, through an RTI, found out that this player's date of birth in the school records is March 18, 1998. However, the player's DOB in the list submitted by Rizvi to MSSA read November 18, 1999. To be eligible to play in the MSSA U-16 tournament, players must be born or after January 1, 1999.
MSSA cricket secretary HS Bhor hoped to resolve the issue by the weekend.
Brief scores: IES VN Sule (Dadar) 88 all out (M Sardar 5/17, R Sardar 3/17) vs Al Barkaat Malik Muhammad Islam English School (Kurla) 91/4 in 33 overs (S Khan 26, N Thakur 4/36)
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