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Coach Abdul Khan, who built the team from scratch two years ago, delivers the riches without a fixed salary

Dnyandeep Seva Mandal Primary and Secondary School won their maiden Giles Shield title after beating Swami Vivenkanand International SSC by four wickets in the final on Thursday. The school near Panvel announced its arrival in the MSSA Dream Sports Inter-School Cricket with empathic performance at the Brabourne Stadium, Cricket Club of India, on Thursday.

After scoring 276 in the first innings and conceding a 54-run lead, SVIS started the day precariously placed at 58/5. Still, overnight not out batter Shauryakant Upadhyaya (33) went on to top score with 94 and take Swami Vivekanand to 178/8 in 40 overs and give their bowlers something to bowl. Skipper Kartik Chhajer, who made 90 in the first innings, remained unbeaten on 58 in the second innings and was later adjudged Best All-rounder of the tournament.

Chasing 125 in 40 overs, Dnyandeep stuttered a bit and lost six wickets but romped home with 6.3 overs to spare. They made 128 for 6 in 34.3 overs. Atharva Kalel top-scored with 56. Daiwat Kawali, who took three wickets in the first innings for the Borivali School, followed with four wickets in the second innings.

Dnyandeep skipper Anup Yadav was declared man of the match for his hundred and five-wicket haul, while Neil Naik won the Best batter of the 124th edition of the prestigious tournament. Rizvi’s Abdullah Khatri won the best bowler award.

Dnyandeep pulled off a heist in only their second year at this level. The School with little history in cricket two years ago has one title, one runners-up in the Giles Shield, and two semifinal finishes in the Harris Shield.

Creating future stars

The school found a capable coach in Abdul Khan, who was looking for a challenging role. He had a great CV, being the former cricket coach of Anjuman-I-Islam Allana English School and running Future Star Cricket Academy in Panvel, which has produced many junior Mumbai players.

“I approached the Dnyandeep management as the school was close to my academy in Panvel. They didn’t have much cricket set up, but they showed faith in me. I worked voluntarily without any salary initially. But later, as I coached the team to the Giles Shield finals and Harris Shield semifinals last season, in my first year. I started getting perks and other benefits,” said Khan after Dnyandeep won their maiden Giles Shield title at the Brabourne stadium on Thursday.

The road wasn’t easy for Khan, and he had to assemble players from his academy and the surrounding areas to make a school team. “I was running an academy in Panvel and had produced many junior cricketers who played for Mumbai at some level. I brought some players from my academy to the school, and initially, it was difficult, but with the support of the school management, we got things in place, and after getting results, everyone started to believe in us. We used to train mostly in our academy ground,” he added.

However, SVIS experienced coach Dinesh Lad wasn’t impressed with Dnyandeep’s title win and reiterated that they had fielded a few overage players. “We will file a formal protest against four players,” said Lad after the match.

1970 Giles Shield recall

Former India cricketer and 1983 World Cup winner Sandeep Patil gave away the prizes with other dignitaries like former India women's cricketer Behroze Edulji, CCI Vice Chairman of Cricket Mayank Khandawala, and former ICC Umpire Suresh Shastri.

"When we played in the Giles Shield, there were around 12 teams; now there are 200 participating. I commend the organisers for managing so many teams," said Patil, who has been former CCI skipper.

Shastri reminisced about the Giles Shield Final he played for Dayanand Balak Balika Vidyalaya against Patil's school, Balmohan Vidyamandir in 1970.

"Balmohan School had a lot of advantages. Half of their team was in a camp here, and I was bowling to them. We got first innings lead, but they beat us outright. Sandeep was a smart captain. He was my captain in Times Shield for around seven years, and we won thrice," he said.

Meanwhile, Khandawala announced that a two-day match will be played between the Champions of Giles Shield (Dnyandeep) and a team selected from the rest of the schools at the same venue on February 19 and 20.

Brief Score

Swami Vivekanand International School:276 all out in 79.2 overs (Kartik Chhajer 90, Prajwal Taware 82, Shauryakant Upadhyaya 48; Anup  Yadav 5/76, Atharva Kalel 4/66) & 178-8 in 40 overs (Shauryakant Upadhyaya 94, Kartik Chhajer 58*) 2x4s, lost to Dnyandeep Seva Mandal’s Primary & Secondary School: 330-5 in 80 overs (Anup Yadav 126*, Anuj Chaudhary 102, Atharva Kalel 50,  Neil Naik 38; Daiwat Kawali 3/81) & 128-6 in 34.5 overs (Atharva Kalel 56; Daivat Kawali  4/66) by 4 wkts.

Top Performers

Best Batter Neil Naik – Dnyandeep Seva Mandal

Best Bowler Abdullah Khatri – Rizvi Springfield

Best All-Rounder – Kartik Chhajer - Swami Vivekanand SSC

Man of the Match – Anup Yadav  - Dnyandeep Seva Mandal