Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Prithvi Shaw says hunger for runs during ban period helped him score double ton on competitive cricket return

Talented Indian opener Prithvi Shaw, who slammed a double hundred on his return to competitive cricket, on Thursday said he was keen to get back to form quickly after spending eight months in the wilderness due to a doping offence. [caption id=“attachment_7679491” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Prithvi Shaw made a successful comeback from the doping ban with a solid 63 against Assam. Image credit: Twitter/@BCCIdomestic[/caption] “I had a lot of things in my mind. I had to beat all those things. I was hungry for runs for last three months (when he was banned). A lot of people pushed, supported me (in this time),” Shaw, who made a match-winning 202 in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy lung opener against Baroda, told reporters. “You can’t say that I wasted my ban period. I utilised it for training. Somewhere in my mind, I was keen to get back to my best form as soon as I returned from my ban,” he said. The 20-year-old Shaw was the chief guest at the prize distribution function of the MIG Cricket Club, where he felicitated spinner Atharva Ankolekar, who is in the Indian squad for the U-19 World Cup in South Africa. Shaw said he wanted to build his innings and that’s what he did in Baroda, when the opportunity came. “The good thing was that I managed to continue even after getting my hundred. I was a bit slow between 100 to 150, because I wanted to build my innings, and play a big knock,” he said. Asked about his emotions on reaching his maiden 200, Shaw said, “I felt great. It came at the right time. I used to get out a lot of times between 100 and 150, which a lot of people have pointed out. I too felt that they were not wrong. So, it was a very good thing for me that I converted my hundred into a double hundred.” Shaw, under whose leadership India had won the previous U-19 World Cup, also gave tips to Ankolekar. Senior office bearers of the club, including its cricket secretary and MCA Apex Council member Amit Dani, were present on the occasion.