Prithvi Shaw slams fifty in his comeback game; Harsha Bhogle impressed

He has often been dubbed as the heir apparent to the great Sachin Tendulkar. But Prithvi Shaw, who turned 20 on November 9, has seen both sides of the story. While he has made look his debuts easy both in domestic and international careers, he has also witnessed how brutal can early success be.

The diminutive opening batsman missed the historic tour of Australia last winter because of a sudden injury and then there were charges of the man getting carried away with his success story. Shaw was also banned for eight months failing a dope test and was eventually included in the 15-man Mumbai squad for the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

The talented batsman was eligible to play only from November 17 and he eventually turned out with the bat on Sunday, after a gap of over six months. Shaw’s last game was for the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League 2019. He slammed 63 in 39 balls (7X4s, 2X6s) against Assam at the Wankhede Stadium as the home team crushed the opponents by 83 runs.

Shaw put up 138 runs in less than 14 overs with his opening partner Aditya Tare and that laid the foundation for a robust team total of 206 for 5 in 20 overs. Mumbai then restricted Assam to 123 for 8.

Harsha Bhogle praises Dinesh Karthik too

Mumbai now have five wins from six outings and have qualified for the Super League from Group D. With just one win from five matches, Assam are now eliminated along with bottom-placed Mizoram.

Ace cricket commentator and analyst Harsha Bhogle was impressed with Shaw’s show as he made a comeback to competitive cricket. He said on Twitter that he felt good seeing the youngster firing soon on right. He also praised Tamil Nadu captain Dinesh Karthik who made 58 against Vidarbha and said the veteran keeper-batsman has always scored runs in the shortest format of the game.

Shaw, who got his maiden India call during the England tour last year, got to make his international debut at home against the West Indies and scored 134 runs in his debut innings. He has played in only two Tests so far, in which he averages above 118.