Mumbai, Feb 15: Seven and half hours of concentration, 359 deliveries, 65 boundaries, 16 sixes and loads of determination culminated into a record-breaking 473 for Rizvi Springfield's 14-year-old superbat Arman Jaffer.
The non-descript Matunga Gymkhana, venue of the Harris Shield final between Rizvi and IES VN Sule, buzzed with excitement on Thursday as Arman sailed from one century to the next, towards the big one. While being out-of-favour India opener Wasim Jaffer's nephew is a good enough reason to make him famous, he has carved out a name for himself as a batsman of immense hunger.
Arman walked in to bat on Day Two of Rizvi's innings in this boys' under-16 tournament, and returned after spending 437 minutes at the crease to a rapturous ovation by his teammates. He notched up 473 to become the highest run-scorer in Harris Shield history. All the hard work and determination, though, were done in by a cross-batted sweep shot which ballooned in the air after taking a top edge.
The 500-run mark seemed his for the taking ... for the second time in three years. In 2010, he missed it by two runs as he amassed 498 against Raja Shivaji school in a Giles Shield match.
The previous Harris record, incidentally, was held by Sarfaraz Khan (439), also from the same school in Bandra.
As Arman approached the landmark, his well-wishers couldn't stop talking about the knock he had played three years ago.
"Is baar toh bana dega 500 (This time he will get to the 500-run mark )," said one spectator with lot of optimism, backed by an equal measure of confidence in the batsman.
But that was not to be. An erroneous sweep shot ended his stay at the wicket. Once back in the dressing room, Arman headed straight for his mother, who was watching him bat from the sidelines. But as he was walking up to her, he exchanged a look with coach Raju Pathak and grinned sheepishly. He knew he had done a lot for the team, but had missed out another great opportunity too.
"I was very tired ," said Arman succinctly. Between the 498 and the 473 he scored on Thursday, Arman has to his credit several knocks ... most of them big hundreds. This season playing for Mumbai's under-16 squad, he became the first boy in the history of Vijay Merchant cricket to score over 1000 runs in a year. One question which was waiting to be answered was how does he manage all this? How can a boy, who is only 14, be so focused?
"The best part about my batting is that I don't have any preconceived notions. I don't think much. The only thing that matters is the attack. I have my methods of dealing with each bowling attack. Once I have sorted that out, runs begin to flow," he says.
Rizvi Springfield finished the day on 823/5 and are looking good to go on and reach the 1000-run mark.
Jaffer, Singh miss Sachin-Kambli record
Arman could have gone into history books with partner Siddharth Singh and become holders of the highest partnership record had Siddharth not been trapped in front of the wickets for 177. The duo put on 631 runs before Siddharth was out. The duo was inching towards the record set by Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli's record partnership of 664 runs but, unfortunately, they missed it by 33 runs. Another record eluded the Bandra outfit on an eventful day.
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