MCA's U-25 tournament revives many a career

Sarvesh Damle was a bright young talent to have emerged from school cricket. Having made a mark with a triple century (311) in the Harris Shield final against Rizvi Springfield in 2003-04 and guiding his school, IES VN Sule Guruji, to victory, he was touted as the next big thing in Mumbai cricket.

The youngster featured in all the state age-group sides from U-14 to U-22. However, he could not graduate to Ranji Trophy. There was no further tournament for him to prove his skills beyond the U-22. He was left with only club and office tournaments till the Board of Control for Cricket in India recently decided to replace U-22 with U-25 tourneys. This gave many youngsters like the 24-year-old Damle a new lease of life and a final shot at climbing up the ladder.

The cricket season for many such hopefuls began with the Shalini Bhalekar Trophy on Wednesday, a selection trial tournament for Mumbai. Damle scored an unbeaten 76 for Rajput XI, who reached 321/8 against Hemant Waingankar XI at stumps on Day One of the three-day game.

“It is another chance for us. The months from September to January is important since the Ranji team is picked, hence it is essential to begin well,” Damle, who has captained the likes of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane in age-group tourneys, said. “After U-22, I played club cricket for two years.”

Bravish Shetty is another such hopeful. Playing for Chandrakant Pandit XI, Shetty was unbeaten on 44 as his side reached 85/1 in reply to Dilip Vengsarkar XI's paltry 136.

The 24-year-old Shetty said: “It is a great platform for players like us. You can't rely on club tourneys, which are mostly knock-outs. Performing in these tournaments gives one a ray of hope.”

Mumbai selector Milind Rege, too, was of the same opinion. “After U-22, cricketers would disappear as there was hardly any tournament except club and office cricket. This will be one good chance to get back in the reckoning,” he said.

Brief scores (Day One): Dilip Vengsarkar XI 136 (B Alam 4/35, S Prasad 3/27) vs Chandrakant Pandit XI 85/1 (B Shetty 44*); Lalchand Rajput XI 321/8 (S Singh 77, S Damle 76*, H Ambhire 74, V Dhulap 3/65) vs Hemant Waingankar XI