Meet Mukund Gawde, a die-hard follower of Tendulkar who has decided to bat at the renowned Shivaji Park maidan in Mumbai for 100 straight hours to pay tribute to his idol's record of 100 international centuries across all formats.
Sudhir Kumar Gautam's fanaticism towards Sachin Tendulkar is not unknown, and the bald-pated fan's zeal for Tendulkar didn't really have a competitor all these years.
But the retired Indian batsman has found another aficionado, who doesn't shy away from showing his love for the man.
Meet Mukund Gawde, a die-hard follower of Tendulkar who has decided to bat at the renowned Shivaji Park maidan in Mumbai for 100 straight hours to pay tribute to his idol's record of 100 international centuries across all formats.
However, this is not the only reason behind his unprecedented endeavour. Gawde, 24, is also doing it for a cause as every person, who wants to bowl to him, has to make a monetary donation of any amount.
The money will be collected by Samanvay Sanstha, an NGO based out of Saphayale near Virar, and will be used in educating poor children coming from tribal backgrounds.
Gawde, who works as a freelance auto designer, is striving to enter the Guinness Book of World Records, and has already played more than 16,000 balls, thereby breaking the record previously held by Pune-based Virag Mare, who faced 14,823 balls in about 48 hours.
"I have been playing cricket since 2005 and idolize Sachin Tendulkar because of his humane nature. Besides Sachin, I'm also a fan of Mahendra Singh Dhoni," said Gawde, who is allowed to rest for five minutes after every hour, according to the guidelines.
"For the past six months, he has been preparing for this event," added Priyesh Tripathi, a colleague and friend of Gawde. "Around 200 people have come here so far, from 5-10-year-olds to 50-60-year-olds."
Lincoln Harris, an Australian citizen, rolled his arm over in the nets and said: "I'm involved in Australian football here, which I play just for fun. So, my friend said there's this world record attempt here. It's amazing what he (Mukund) is doing."
Gawde's attempt — that began at 6 pm on Wednesday — is expected to come to an end on Monday morning.
THE PROCESS
Mukund Gawde, who is attempting to enter the Guinness Book of World Records by batting for 100 hours at a stretch, is allowed to take a 20-minute break every four hours, which goes as per the guidelines. Doctors have prescribed him to depend more on dried fruits rather than liquids.
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