Shaw takes expectations as a challenge

Expectations are not easy to handle, especially when you are billed as the future of Indian cricket at the tender age of 18. Prithvi Shaw understands the pressure of being a promising player.

Ever since he burst onto the scene with a century for Mumbai against Tamil Nadu in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy semifinal, Prithvi’s progress has been impressive. Apart from the huge achievement of leading the India U-19 team to the title in the World Cup last year, Prithvi has earned his place in the India ‘A’ and IPL (Delhi Daredevils) squads.

Prithvi is a delight to watch when on song and can upset the rhythm of the bowler with his relentless attacking approach. But an odd failure or a couple of quiet matches can raise doubts in the minds of the cricket watchers.

“I see expectations as a challenge. People comment that Prithvi has scored 50 and he should now score more 100s. Consistency and scoring hundreds are important if you aspire to play for the national team. So I don’t really care about what people talk about me and I focus more on my game,” said Prithvi after scoring a brilliant 136 for India ‘A’ here against South Africa ‘A’.

Prithvi, with a strong hand-eye coordination, is brutal on the off-side with square cuts and back foot punches being his trademark shots. However, there exists a doubt over his ability to play the moving ball. This problem area was exploited by Karnataka last season when they kept him quiet in both innings of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal in Nagpur.

“Rahul (Dravid) sir told me that my back foot isn’t getting across and I know it’s a mistake. But he asked me not to change my technique as I am scoring runs consistently. Unlike before, I am more patient now and take it session by session. That helps me play long innings” he explained.