A few years back, as a 14-year-old batsman, Prithvi Shaw drew comparisons with the great Sachin Tendulkar, when he played an innings of 546 in school cricket, highest score at that time. For following years, he went on to toil in junior cricket before being called by India U19 team.
(Read Here: Know what Virat Kohli does and loves off the field)
From there, his career too an upward lift and he soon turned himself into an explosive batsman in the top order. His continued success saw him being appointed as the captain of India U19 for the tour to England, but even before that, he had shown his prowess in the first-class format as well when he scored a century on his Ranji debut for Mumbai, the first batsman to achieve the feat since Amol Muzumdar.
His impressive innings in Ranji semi-final and final meant that he was called in for Duleep Trophy, in place of an unfit Abhinav Mukund and now, again, he has shown his need for runs by scoring a century on his Duleep Trophy debut,
“I don’t want to be satisfied with these centuries. I need to play much better. This century is much more satisfying than the Ranji Trophy debut one because the opposition has experienced bowlers. I had to be patient and avoid any rash shots. Also, the wicket here is not easy to bat on [in comparison to Rajkot during the Mumbai v Tamil Nadu semi-final],” Shaw told mid-day.
(Read Here: Bangladesh vs South Africa first Test prediction)
Shaw had a tough challenge at the start as the India Blue side had likes of Ishant Sharma and Pankaj Singh – new ball specialists – but he stood tall against the experienced bowlers and in the end, has emerged out as the star for the side.
With a century in the Duleep Trophy final, he has now equalled the feet of Sachin Tendulkar – scoring a century in Ranji and Duleep Trophy debut.
Now, if the youngster can continue his prowess in the upcoming Ranji season then a national call-up may not be far away as Shaw has shown an immense sense of responsibility at this age and just like Sachin, he might become one of the youngest players to represent the country.
(Read Here: Andrew Tye to replace Pat Cummins for T20I series)
(Read Here: Tired of talking about transition: Nic Pothas)