Shardashram Vidyamandir, Dadar West has a chequered history of producing some of the cricketing legends and it's a place where seeds of great stories are sown.
The story of 14-year-old Ira Jadhav, the emerging teen sensation in women's cricket in Mumbai, is yet another example of a Shardashram product showing signs of great potential.
Jadhav's scintillating knock of 182 off just 114 balls for Glorious Cricket Club against Regal Cricket Club comprising 23 fours and nine sixes has made all and sundry take a good look at her growth as a batter.
Ira started playing cricket at the age of eight with a club based behind her society in her hometown Pune before finally moving to Mumbai to further her cricketing ambitions in June 2022.
She was taken under the wings of Kalpana Murkar, her main coach, and is now also coached by her son, Vaidik Murkar. Ira is currently the captain of Mumbai U-15 girls' team and a member of the under-19 squad as well.
Vaidik was effusive in his praise for Ira's steady growth as a cricketer.
"It was a fantastic knock. The maturity she has in her batting at such a young age is tremendous. She plays all the shots and builds her innings according to the situation which helps her to play big. The important thing about her is she plays fearless cricket. She is very passionate about the game and gives the whole day to cricket."
"Even after a tiring match, she never skips practice which reminds me of Sachin Tendulkar. She has to go miles and hope she plays for Mumbai Women's Senior team soon and then WPL and for India,'' he added.
Ira's core strength as a batter is her drives and her father Sachin Jadhav vouches for that.
"Her strong points are drives, cover drive is the one she enjoys the most, but in school and girls' cricket, balls don't come to bat nicely and hence pull shot is what she plays perfectly,'' he added.
The eighth standard student prefers playing two-day matches and is also aiming to master the on-drive going forward and also improve her sweep shots.
"She wants to be part of the Indian U-19 team for the U-19 Women's World Cup in 2025 and is focused on developing her game with that in mind,'' the beaming father revealed.
What makes Ira a promising cricketer is the positive temperament and mindset she exudes that can deal with any sort of negativity that might crop up.
At such a tender age, Ira is able to straddle the world of cricket and academics with great elan and has consistenly scored above 80 percent in her exams, according to her father.
The knock of 182 is hopefully the beginning of many more for this teen batter coming from the storied legacy of Shardashram.
