India vs West Indies: Prithvi Shaw's inspirational journey from Virar local to Indian cricket team

Since that record-breaking 546 off 330 balls for Rizvi Springfield school in a Harris Shield match as a 14-year old back in November 2013, life has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride for young Prithvi Shaw. Today, technically he is still a teenager, but professionally Shaw has come of age as he gears up for his international debut, that too at the highest level, in Test cricket. The spark that we saw in him five years back, will finally get ignited at Rajkot, when the youngster will come out to open the innings for India alongside KL Rahul. It is the combination of talent and hard work, which has resulted to Shaw’s rapid rise through the ranks. And this path-breaking journey started at an early age — when he was just three. Shaw hails from Virar, in the western suburbs of Mumbai. Having lost his mother at an early phase of his life, he never had the kind privileges which other kids of his age enjoy. Instead, the harsh realities of life have made Shaw a strong individual, both mentally and temperament wise. [caption id=“attachment_5313941” align=“alignleft” width=“320”] 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw is all set to make his India debut against West Indies. AFP[/caption] It was his father, Pankaj, who first identified the talent in Prithvi. In fact, in his early days Pankaj himself wanted to become a cricketer as well, but in search of livelihood, he couldn’t fulfill his dream. So, when he saw the same spark in his son, Pankaj just couldn’t resist, despite all the financial difficulties. He had to sell his small garment shop in order to help his son to chase his dream. Both the father and son have been through the hardships together. Each day they used to get up at 4.30 am and avail the 6 am local train to Bandra with his school and kit bag to attend the early morning training session at the MIG ground, a place where Sachin Tendulkar used to be a regular during the latter half of his illustrious career. Thanks to his prowess with the bat in hand, Shaw soon became a familiar name in the Mumbai maidans. He started scoring runs at every level. In fact, the baby-faced right-hander didn’t even shy away when batting against fast bowlers from senior club teams. The popularity helped him to join the Bandra-based Rizvi Springfield, one of the powerhouses in Mumbai school cricket. Meanwhile, the stiff daily routine continued for almost seven years before Prithvi’s talent was identified by former Mumbai and India left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni. In 2010, the 11-year old Shaw received his first remuneration as a cricket player when Kulkarni’s sports management firm offered him an annual stipend of Rs 3 lakh. Also, impressed by his batting skills, a local corporator offered Shaw and his father a flat in Santacruz to cut his travel time from Virar to Bandra, which at times used to be around 4 to 5 hours each day. The move to Rizvi was really fruitful for Shaw who virtually became a run-machine at the school and Mumbai age-group teams. Because of his attacking batsmanship at the top of the order, comparisons with Tendulkar were drawn in Mumbai cricketing circle. Interestingly, those who have seen Shaw’s journey closely, rate his 73 as a nine-year old against the touring Julian Wood Cricket Academy side very highly. In fact, Julian Wood, the former Hampshire cricketer was so impressed by that knock that he decided to invite Shaw to the United Kingdom for a stint at his academy. Eventually, after formally trying for good 2-3 years, Wood finally succeeded to take Shaw to England in 2013 where the youngster justified the move by scoring a century on debut representing the Cheadle Hulme school in Manchester. He ended up with 1,446 runs during his two-month stay. Shaw, in fact, got an opportunity to train with the Gloucestershire senior boys and featured in the second XI in some friendly matches. The Mumbaikar was equally impressive in those matches as well. Coming back from England, he scored that 546 in school cricket and soon the then 14-year old was given the captaincy of the Mumbai Under-16s. Well, Shaw just never looked back from there. In November 2016, Shaw was part of the India Under-19 team that won the youth Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. Two months later, he made his Ranji Trophy debut in the semi-final against Tamil Nadu and scored a second-innings century which took his team to victory. In the following domestic season, at 17, Shaw became the youngest player to score a century on Duleep Trophy debut, a record previously held by Tendulkar. Shaw, meanwhile, went on to score 4 centuries in his first 5 First-Class matches. In 2018, under the watchful eyes of Rahul Dravid, he led India to a title triumph in the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. It was followed by a 1.2 crore IPL contract by Delhi Daredevils in 2018 auction. And now, here he is, on the verge of making it to the highest level. In Indian cricket, a scenario like this is very rare when a 18-year old, who has only featured in 14 First-Class matches, has been slotted in to open the batting in a Test match. It shows how highly the think-tank rates Shaw. They are clearly backing his talent and the selectors as well as the entire team management should be lauded for this bold decision.