A few years back suddenly cricket lovers across the country started to hear the name of three teenage boys from Mumbai – Sarfaraz Khan, Arman Jaffer and Prithvi Shaw. Therese three batsmen rewrote many records in school cricket. People started to compare this generation with the likes of Sachin, Kambli, Sairaj Bahutle. The early potential of Sarfaraz and Arman has not yet nurtured into a big talent, but we have Prithvi Shaw as the youngest ever Indian to make a test century on debut.
The story of Prithvi Shaw is like a Bollywood story of sacrifice, dedication, talent & hard work. The family of Prithvi Shaw has migrated from a small village in Gaya District from Bihar of Virar (near Mumbai) in Maharashtra. When Prithvi Shaw was just 4, he lost his mother. His father Pankaj Shaw has a small business. Virar proved to be too small for talented Shaw and he had to go to Mumbai daily for school & cricket.
So his father Pankaj had to close his business to go with Prithvi to go to Mumbai. Pankaj would literally sit outside the school and playground while Prithvi Shaw was busy in study and playing respectively. Pankaj had to deep dug into savings and then the family was living with help from other people.
The Sports Management Company of retired Mumbai left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni signed up Prithvi Shaw for a fee of 3 lakh per annum. Later a Shiv Sena corporator gave a home in Mumbai to Prithvi Shaw. Thus Pankaj & Prithvi moved to Mumbai and Prithvi Shaw was able to concentrate more on cricket. Prithvi Shaw continued his rise in Mumbai cricket and last year he was handed his first Ranji Cap against Tamil Nadu in the semifinal. Prithvi Shaw scored a brilliant hundred in the second inning was declared Man of the match.
Later he scored a century in his debut match in the Duleep Trophy. Prithvi Shaw remains the only player after legendary Sachin Tendulkar to score a century in Ranji & Duleep trophy on debut. In IPL auction, Prithvi Shaw was selected to play for Delhi Daredevils. Prithvi Shaw played some very fine knock for Delhi. It was quite amazing to see a boy hitting international blowers out of the park in IPL.
Prithvi Shaw led India to Under-19 World Cup glory in 2018. He didn’t have a very good time with bat (he was 9th highest run scorer) but his captaincy was brilliant. Thus Prithvi Shaw joined the club of Kaif, Kholi to win Under-19 ICC world cup. Shaw’s continuous rise in domestic circuit was the reason behind his selection in Indian team. He could not get a chance win England, but he was handed a test cap against West Indies this week.
Prithvi Shaw was at his best in taking the attack to the bowlers and scored a brilliant hundred. The batting of Prithvi Shaw had the aggression of Sehwag but he also has the patience of Dravid. He showed to the world that the famous Mumbai assembly line is still producing fine batsmen.
Prithvi Shaw is the player of the future and it is not easy to become an opener in Indian team when there are so many contenders for the slot like Mayank Agrawal. The bowling attack of WI may be very weak, but still one had to make runs in the middle. No one can take the credit away from the young & fearless Prithvi Shaw for his brilliant first inning performance.
Recently, Sachin revealed that when he saw the young Shaw playing he told his friend that this boy would play for India. Many Indian greats like Sunil Gavaskar also see a lot of potential in the young player. This is just a beginning and the journey will be tough. The best part for me was to see Prithvi dedicating his hundred to his father. It is the talent, determination & hard work of Prithvi but we must not forget the sacrifice made by his father Pankaj. One needs a heart of steel to leave his own business to facilitate his son to play cricket. I hope that we may have seen the glams of future Indian super stars. Good Luck Prithvi.
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