He is a grandfather and yet Neville Wadia’s passion for cricket at the age of 63 is never-ending. He has been playing cricket for over 40
years now. Some six months ago, he achieved something special.
Wadia scored 105 in just 60 balls slamming three sixes and 15 fours in a 20-Twenty match in Vadodara at the old age of 63 years and 305 days. No Parsi player has represented the Indian cricket team after Farookh Engineer. Now, he cannot but still Wadia’s effort is good enough to make the cricket fans in the country proud of his achievement. His feat has been recognized by Guinness World Records. He has become the oldest player in the world to slam a century in the 20-Twenty cricket.
A retired bank employee and native of Umargam in Valsad district, Wadia runs a school on Waghodia Road in the city. He plays cricket almost every day with the players half his age. His hits always amazes others like in the 20-Twenty match where his huge sixes crossed the 70 yards boundary.
Talking to TOI, he said, "I have never played Ranji-level cricket but have played Kanga League and Times Shield in Mumbai regularly." Father of a budding actor Delzan Wadia, Wadia senior, born on May 27, 1945, added, "I was not thinking of any records while batting against Vrajdham Vadil Pariwar team at Sitabaug Ground on 28 March 2009. Wadia, an opening batsman, hit 44 scoring shots of 60 balls he faced."
"But, we realized this knock could be the world record and so after much deliberation we sent the entry to Guinness World Records," said Wadia.
The Guinness World Records Ltd on their part checked all the details and verified them before issuing him the certificate of record holder on November 11, 2009
Original article in TOI