An exceptional talent with extraordinary skills, Mumbai's Prithvi Shaw is a batsman to look out for in the near future. The 17-year-old has added yet another feather to his young cap by slamming his fourth first-class hundred on day one of his team’s Ranji Trophy Group C fixture against Odisha in Bhubaneshwar on Wednesday.
Interestingly, this was Shaw’s fourth century in just five first-class matches. His magnificent scoring rate and his ability to consistently hit the three-figure mark has often drawn comparisons with master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. Among Indian batsman, only Tendulkar had more first-class hundreds before the age of 18, he smashed 7 tons.
Shaw maintained an impressive strike rate of 68.63 during his scintillating knock of 105 (of 153 balls) against Odisha. During his innings, the right-handed batsman stroked 18 boundaries before falling lbw to Basant Mohanty in the 44th over.
The Thane-born cricketer becomes the youngest player to score a century on his Duleep Trophy debut, he also touched the elusive three-figure mark on his Ranji Trophy debut as well. While playing for Board President’s XI in a one-day warm-up game against New Zealand, Shaw played a gutsy knock of 66 that earned him praise from pacer Trent Boult.
Shaw now has 552 First-class runs at an average of 69 with four hundreds and a fifty against his name.
Last week, against Tamil Nadu, Shaw scored his third hundred, a 155-ball 123 at Mumbai. Before that, the opening batsman hit 154 off 249 balls for India Red in their Duleep Trophy match against India Blue at Lucknow.
After the England U-19 tour, the BCCI’s junior selection committee excluded Shaw from the U-19 Asia Cup squad and instead asked him to represent Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
