Now and then, from the world of cricket come extraordinary news of extraordinary feats. 9-year-old Rohan has done something which happens once in a while. Yes, six wickets off six balls. Basically, a six-wicket maiden.
Rohan, who plays for the Under 9s at the Great Shelford Cricket Club near Cambridge, achieved the feat against Histon this past Sunday. Thanks to his bowling, his side won the match by 26 runs and needless to say, he was chosen man of the match. “I play for my school team and Great Shelford. I joined when I was around seven,” Rohan told the BBC. “It rarely ever happens,” he added.
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Incidentally, Rohan did the unthinkable on Father’s Day, and his dad Narain was in attendance to watch his son in action, creating those magical scenes on the ground. The 54-year-old was thrilled to have seen Rohan at his best, at such a young age. To say Narain was pleased as punch would be an understatement. “To get one wicket is a great achievement for someone so young, but wicket after wicket, I was so proud,” Narain said.
“Just him playing at the local cricket team was a great achievement. I don’t think I realised how rare an achievement it was,” he added. Not just Narain, there were many who knew Rohan personally were in attendance. Vishal Gupta is one of the coaches at Rohan’s Great Shelford Cricket Club, and he officiated at the game in the capacity of an umpire. His admiration for Rohan and his feat knew no bounds. “I took my umpire hat off and threw him up in the air with his team. Everyone was clapping about it. I don’t think I will ever see it again. It was amazing,” he said.
Even the opponents were happy!
Head coach Lucas Green said everyone was so happy for Rohan that when he took the sixth wicket off the last ball of his over, the supporters of both sides couldn’t stop themselves from running on to the pitch. “When the wickets fell, off the sixth ball everyone ran on to the pitch. The other team was so happy for him… and him and his team-mates enjoyed the moment,” Green said.
Back in the day, fans, from the stands, did run towards the players to celebrate after the match got over. It was some sight. However, it doesn’t happen nowadays because of security reasons. Nowadays, it’s not that frequent in school or club cricket either but then Rohan had done something that really warranted this kind of celebration.