Pavan Shah wants to follow the footsteps of MS Dhoni as an Indian captain

18-year-old Pavan Shah’s career has changed from obscurity to stardom in a space of one and half months. The India U19 toured Sri Lanka for a couple of youth Tests and five One-Dayers and the dynamic youngster latched on to the opportunities with both hands. He couldn’t quite deliver in the first Test in Colombo but came into his own in the second encounter in Hambantota.

He scored 282 runs from 332 balls and helped his team carve an incredible victory by an innings and 147 runs. Shah was also the Player of the Series. In the limited-overs matches, he notched 210 runs at an impressive average of 42. To multiply his joy, the Young Turk has been appointed as the captain of India for the U19 Asia Cup, which gets underway on September 29 in Dhaka.

He has replaced Arjun Juyal, who has been dropped from the junior team. He will also lead the India A Under-19 team for a quadrangular series, involving India B Under-19, Nepal, and Afghanistan. Quite expectantly, Shah was over the moon after getting the news. He also sounded positive about the atmosphere in the team and shared his experience of playing under two different captains at the U19 level.

I would keep calm in pressure situations and try and not react

“I was shocked, rather pleasantly surprised. I was in the middle of a practice session and one of my U19 teammates called and congratulated me. He then told me that I’ve been selected as India U19’s captain for the Asia Cup and Quadrangular series,” Shah told CricTracker soon after getting the news.

Already talking like a leader he sees a lot of positives and the new responsibility seems to have upped his spirits.

“We have a good support staff and a good bunch of players in the U19 team. They aren’t concerned about individual performances and rather everyone plays for a win. I played under two different captains Aryan Juyal and Anuj Rawat and everyone supported their captains,” the Chinchwad-born cricketer added.

Moreover, Shah talked about his ambitions and his focus as the new skipper. “We will try and play simple cricket and won’t want to complicate things too much. We would try and keep things simple to whatever extent we can,” the 18-year-old remarked.

MS Dhoni has been an inspiration for many cricketers, both budding and current. His calm and collected approach has been a reason behind his immense success. Shah named Dhoni as his favourite captain and also vowed to learn the tricks of the trade from the 37-year-old veteran.

“MS Dhoni is my favourite captain and will try and learn from him. Cricket is an unpredictable game and I would keep calm in pressure situations and try and not react,” he concluded.

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