RAJKOT: Not too long ago, Prithvi Shaw, with his father Pankaj by his side, would board a local train from Virar at 4.30 a.m. to south Mumbai to pursue his ambition of excelling as a cricketer. As his stock rose from being a school-cricket stalwart to a reliable junior cricketer to India Youth opener, he also moved to Santa Cruz.
On Thursday, Shaw took a long stride in his decade-long cricketing journey as he scored a hundred on his first-class debut, during Mumbai’s high-profile Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium. His 120-run knock helped Mumbai make meat of the target of 251 with six wickets in hand, and ensured a face-off against Gujarat in the final at Indore next week. This will be Mumbai's 46th Ranji final, and it already has 41 titles, the most by any team.
Prithvi, the only son of a tailor, lost his mother when he was just four. Ever since the Rizvi Springfiel schoolboy started getting noticed on Mumbai’s maidans — notably a record 546 in a Harris Shield inter-school match in 2013-14 — he has been billed as one for the future. Today, the 17-year-old’s classy knock against Tamil Nadu indicated that he may well and truly belong to a higher level. His four-and-a-half-hour stay at the crease fetched him 120 runs (175b, 13x4, 1x6) and made him a part of a select band of Mumbai batsmen to have scored a hundred on first-class debut, a club that included the likes of Khandu Rangnekar, Madhav Apte, Sachin Tendulkar, Amol Muzumdar, and Ajinkya Rahane.
It would be interesting to see if Shaw continues to be prolific and joins some of the other dignitaries who have brought laurels not only wearing the Lion’s Crest but also in India’s whites.
Comparisons aside, Shaw has impressed former India captain Rahul Dravid, now the coach of India’s Under-19 and A sides, during India U-19’s triumphant campaign in the Youth Asia Cup. Dravid is understood to have been consulted by Mumbai chief selector Milind Rege before the youngster was drafted into this big match.
After the victory bugle was sounded, the soft-spoken teenager dedicated his hundred to Abis Rizvi, the secretary of the Rizvi Sports Club who died in a terror attack on New Year's Eve in Istanbul, Turkey. "During my school days, he had cared for me a lot. He had given me plenty of things which I didn’t have. I dedicate this hundred to him."
