Prithvi Shaw’s rousing century on Test debut not only ticked all boxes for what the team was seeking from an opening batsman, but also carries in it the flavour of a new hope, new ambition and a new spring in Indian cricket. From the moment he faced his first delivery, Shaw, not yet 19, played strokes — immaculate and exotic — with such ease as to draw praise from all quarters: Inevitably, comparisons too.
A tweet put out by chief coach Ravi Shastri, congratulating Shaw, captured the sentiment of most critics and fans. Shastri said that in the young opener’s century, he saw “A bit of Viru and the Master there”, referring to Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar was an obvious frame of reference since Shaw too comes from Mumbai, is also short statured and has grabbed attention from his school when he notched up a string of Himalayan scores, including a mammoth 546 in a Harris Shield match in 2016.
Moreover, like Tendulkar, Shaw scored century on debut in the Ranji and Duleep Trophies too. The point of departure is that Shaw played the under-19 World Cup (led India to the title) and has now become the youngest centurion on Test debut, though Tendulkar was younger (17) when he had made his first.
It’s not this jumble of statistics, however, which favour comparison with Tendulkar, rather the deep sense of confidence that Shaw has shown playing at the highest level at such a young age.
Like the former Mumbai maestro, Shaw looks to the manner born. In his gait on the field, his practice regimen, and the manner in which he has fit into the senior squad, he reminds one of the young Tendulkar. Watching him at Rajkot, where he showed no nerves, nobody would have thought he was playing his first Test.
Shaw’s aggressive approach, scoring runs, as Shastri’s tweet highlighted, also brought comparisons with Sehwag, the dazzling opener who scored runs at breakneck speed and helped India win several matches.
There is in Shaw’s batting similar bravado. Some critics believed — as was also the case with Sehwag when he first played — that this was a reckless and foolhardy approach that would soon expose the batsman. But so far Shaw has stuck to the methods he enjoys knows best and enjoys. And succeeded. Indeed, he has got the tacit approval of Tendulkar who has told him to play his natural game and ignore all advise to the contrary.
Given his known mindset, it is unlikely Sehwag will differ from Tendulkar. In fact after Shaw’s century, the former opener tweeted, “Abhi to bas shuruat hai, ladke mein bahut dum hai.” (This is just the beginning, the boy has enormous potential). Such lavish praise and comparisons with past masters, while the stuff of headlines and personally gratifying undoubtedly, also now put onus on Shaw to live up to the early promise he has shown.
Expectations are sky high after his debut Test century, but the opposition, let’s face it, will not be as benign as the West Indies have proved to be in the Rajkot Test. In fact, it will only get tougher from here. Bowlers, captains, coaches across the world wake up quickly these days to new talent emerging.
Transfer of information is unhindered, and not just word of mouth, but videos of how Shaw plays, his strengths and weaknesses, is perhaps already being analysed! In this scenario, while it is important how his teammates, captain, coach, family and friends interact with Shaw, what is more important is how the player himself reacts to his transformed situation.
There are several examples from across the world of young cricketers brimming with talent unable to actualise their potential because of their inability to handle fame and riches, the burden of expectations, or — most pertinently — fail to evolve.
The great qualities about maestros is that they are never complacent in their approach to the game and also keep striving to learning and imbibing new things every day.
Young Shaw has had a surging start to his international career, but will have to show the mental toughness and capacity to upgrade himself constantly to prove himself a ‘blue chip’ like Sehwag and Tendulkar.
