Finally, after a long struggle and hard work, teenager Prithvi Shaw is now living the life of his dreams after he made his Test debut against West Indies at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on October 4, 2018.
Among batsmen, Prithvi Shaw has now become the 2nd youngest batsman to make his debut for India since Sachin Tendulkar also he became the 293rd cricketer to play for India in Test cricket.
Further, he surprised the cricket enthusiasts when he scored his maiden Test ton against West Indies in his 1st match. Batting against the likes of a tall West Indies fast bowler, Shannon Gabriel, and spinner, Devendra Bishoo, Prithvi played a stunning inning as he smashed 19 boundaries to score 134 runs off just 154 balls.
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While it’s a dream for every youngster to play for Indian cricket, it was not an easy journey for Prithvi Shaw who had lost his mother at a young age of four. Further, it was his father who kept his cricket dream though they had financial issues.
The Beginning of Prithvi Shaw cricket career
Born on 9 November 1999 and residing in a modest town in Virar near Mumbai, Prithvi’s life story seems like a Bollywood movie who started playing cricket from the age of 3 while his father decided to enroll him in Virar Cricket Academy.
At 4:30 every morning, Pankaj would wake up Prithvi and would travel around 70-km to reach Mumbai to prepare Prithvi for cricket training.
Later, he joined Middle Income Group (MIG) Cricket Club in Mumbai for training. Further, when he was just 7 years old, his coach came to know that he had the potential to make it big.
In November 2013, Prithvi Shaw created a national record when he scored 546 runs from 330 balls while playing for Rizvi Springfield against St Francis D’Assisi in a Harris Shield match.
Comparison of Shaw with Sachin Tendulkar
Well, his score which was the highest in Indian schools cricket at that time, changed his life as he bagged a lucrative deal worth ₹ 36 lakh with SG, a top sports equipment manufacturer which relieved him of all the financial problems and helped him to focus on his cricketing career. Moreover, he has always been compared with legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar for his performance.
In 2016-17, he made Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai in an important semi-final against Tamil Nadu, scoring 120 runs in the final innings of the semifinal to help his team win the match. Moreover, at the age of 17 years 153 days, he became the youngest player to score a ton in a Ranji knockout game.
Further, he didn’t stop over there, as he scored a ton at the age of 17 years 320 days in Duleep trophy. Now, he is the 2nd youngest batsman to score a century in Duleep Trophy, just behind the master blaster.
Shaw brings 4th Under-19 World Cup for India
In 2017, he was made the captain of India team for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup and it was interesting to see that the Indian team defeated Australia by 8 wickets to win their 4th Under-19 World Cup.
In 2018 IPL auction, Delhi Daredevils bought the right-handed batsman for Rs.1.2 crore. Interestingly, he became the youngest ever opener in IPL history after he had made debut against Kings XI Punjab at the age of 18 years 165 days. Also, after scoring an impressive half-century against KKR, he went on to become the joint youngest player to score an IPL half-century at the age 18 years 169 days.
Moreover, he has an excellent first-class record which helped him to get his name registered in Indian test squad. In the 14 matches, he has scored 1418 runs with an impressive average of 56.72 also smashing 5 half-centuries and 7 centuries.
Well, it is just the beginning of the Prithvi Shaw era in the Indian cricket and as the days pass by we bet this Maharastra boy is going to shatter many records.
Well, Prithvi is an inspiration for all the budding cricketers as well as the kids who want to achieve their dreams.
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