Calcutta: Last month, one Pranav Dhanawade, a Mumbai schoolboy, made the world sit up and notice when he became the first cricketer to score 1000 runs in a single innings.

On Monday, Ritwik Sinha, who has appeared for his Class X Board exams, created quite a stir in the local cricketing circle here. Though not of the same stature as Dhanawade, Ritwik's 383 (166 balls) for Tirthapati Institution, in a Mayor's Cup match against The Park Institution, has its own story.

Ritwik dreams of making it big in cricket someday. The job won't be easy though, and that is not just in cricketing terms.

When a smiling Ritwik posed for the shutterbugs at his home on Monday evening, it was in defiance of the hardships that the young boy faces in his day-to-day life.

Just like his Monday's gigantic innings tells about his promise as an aspiring cricketer, the Sinhas' humble one-room residence at Hazra, with discoloured walls, say that off the field, it's a tough 'pitch' to bat on for the family.

Ritwik's father, Ashish Kumar Sinha, is a driver by profession, while his mother, Jhuma, is associated with an NGO. While hitting 48 fours and 26 sixes on Monday, Ritwik didn't even have his own gloves and bat. In other words, his remarkable innings was authored with borrowed stuff.

Another interesting bit of statistics is that he hadn't scored a century in competitive cricket before Monday.

"My previous best was 78... Coming in at the fall of the first wicket, I never thought I would score so many runs. When I reached hundred, I thought I had scored enough... But my school teachers egged me on... Their inspiration helped me to carry on," Ritwik said.

But he has a regret, that of not getting a 400. "I was so close... The opponents' bowling was not very strong. Just four balls were left in the innings and I wanted to get those runs. But then that cost me my wicket," he added.

Asked about his idol in cricket, Ritwik promptly replied: "Sachin Tendulkar... He is such a great cricketer." Among the present lot, he likes Rohit Sharma. "He belongs to a different class... I enjoy watching him bat."

Ritwik enjoys bowling right-arm medium pace and has no plans to concentrate just on his batting after Monday. Just like he plans to carry on with his academics and cricket simultaneously, provide he can overcome the financial hurdles.

In Monday's match, Tirthapati Institution scored 500 for eight in 45 overs. They won by 414 runs as Park Institution were all out for just 86. But for Ritwik, the bigger 'match' has only just begun.