Duleep Trophy: Prithvi Shaw nears Sachin Tendulkar's record

Prithvi Shaw on Monday notched up a brilliant century to take India Red to 258 for 2 on Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy 2017-18 final against India Blue. With this feat, the 17-year-old Shaw became the youngest player to score a century on Duleep Trophy debut. The record was previously held by cricket Sachin Tendulkar.

The young batting sensation made his Ranji Trophy debut earlier this year. At 17 years of age, he became the second youngest from Mumbai, after Tendulkar, to hit a century. Shaw’s heroics had helped Mumbai reach the final of the tournament beating Tamil Nadu by six wickets. Tendulkar had scored centuries in all three domestic tournaments – Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Duleep Trophy – before turning 18.

Shaw has now scored a century on Ranji and Duleep Trophy debut and is yet to appear for Irani Trophy, where he will have a shot to emulate the great Sachin Tendulkar.

His knock was applauded even more because even though he took his risks, he performed so well against some of India’s most experienced bowlers. In the ongoing game, he brought up 150 runs along with Dinesh Karthik who notched up a century in their bid to post a mammoth 1st innings total.

A brief background

Shaw came into the limelight after he scored an astonishing 546 off 330 balls at a school match in Mumbai, making it the third highest score in any form of cricket. The 14-year-old made it into the cricket history books, playing for Rizvi Springfield School, compiled the huge score against St Francis School in the Harris Shield, a tournament that brought batting icon Tendulkar into the public eye more than two decades ago. Shaw had hit 85 boundaries and five sixes in that knock.

On Monday, after the Dinesh Karthik-led India Red side opted to bat against India Blue, Shaw along with Akhil Herwadkar stitched a 74-run partnership for the first wicket before the latter was dismissed run-out for 25 runs. Towards the end of the day, he was dismissed by a beautiful delivery from the left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt but not before completing his 150. Shaw walked back with 154 runs to his name, his knock comprised of 18 boundaries and a six. With skipper Karthik also scoring a hundred, the team ended the day on 317/5.

He also displayed decent form in the recently-concluded tour of England where he represented India’s Under-19 team in the five Youth ODI matches. The right-hander scored 21, 48, 26, 13 and 52 in the series. The Mumbai batsman has played two first-class matches so far, scoring 239 runs at an average of 59.75. He has one century and one half-century to his name.