Abhijith N Kolpe

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru Oct 6: Cricket enthusiasts were anxious when 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw walked to the Rajkot field during his much-anticipated debut against West Indies on October 4. Prithvi went on score three figure mark of 134 runs off 154 deliveries and entered the history books as the fourth youngest to score a century in debut match.

It is indeed a proud moment to know that Prithvi Shaw has connection with Mangaluru through his coach Prashanth Shetty.

Prashanth Shetty coached Prithvi for 9 years at MIG Cricket Academy in Bandra, Mumbai. Prashanth Shetty, who hails from Kidiyoor in Udupi and presently settled in Mumbai, is the proud coach of Prithvi Shaw.

Prithvi Shaw with Prashanth Shetty

Prithvi Shaw's special knock

Prashanth Shetty

Coach Prashanth Shetty was a cricketer since childhood and represented Mumbai University team. Knowing that it would be difficult to represent Mumbai in Ranji trophy, Prashanth moved to Tripura and represented Ranji team there. Later he returned to Mumbai and passed the BCCI coaching exam and became level-2 coach.

Elated by Prithvi Shaw's debut century, speaking to Daijiworld, Prashanth Shetty said," I am really proud about the achievement of Prithvi Shaw in Rajkot against West Indies,”
Hardships

“Prithvi Shaw faced lot of hardships in his initial days including financial problems. His father was running a garment shop. Prithvi used to spend about 5 hours to travel from Virar to Churchgate and back for practice. His hard work finally paid off,” he said.

"Since his young age, Prithvi had a wide variety of strokes. We made him to play under 12, 14 and 18 categories. Prithvi used to practice for about 2 hours facing 1000 deliveries bowled by age groups of 25-28. Prithvi developed his confidence and improved his attacking approach which is his strength,” he added.

"In the Vijay Hazare trophy, Prithvi scored with a strike rate of above 100. He does not let down expectations. He plays based on his strengths,” he said.

Prithvi Shaw is an exceptional talent

"Prithvi is an exceptional talent from the beginning. When he was 8 years old, we had predicted that he will play for India and with that belief we carried out and built confidence in him. Prithvi dominated bowlers with his attacking approach in Ranji tournament. He does not allow bowlers to settle down. He always plays sensible and responsible cricket,” Prashanth Shetty said.

Comparison with Sachin Tendulkar

When asked about, experts’ opinion that Prithvi will become a Sachin Tendulkar, Prashanth said," Sachin is a living legend, who had different techniques. I cannot compare Prithvi with Tendulkar. Prithvi has different techniques and wide range of shots,”

Future

When asked about Australia tour, which is around the corner and being reminded that Australian condition is different from Indian condition, Prashanth Shetty replied, "Adaptability is biggest quality in Prithvi. Prithvi easily adapted to four- day, five- day, 50 over and 20 over matches. Prithvi quickly adapts to the conditions and I am confident that he can perform well. We can recall that when Prithvi represented India, he played well in England facing the likes of Chris Woakes and Sam Curran,”

Asked about tough competition for opening slot with Dhawan, Vijay, Rahul around, Prashanth Shetty said, "I think Prithvi deserves a place after scoring 100 and it is left to the management to decide whether they want an attacking opener or a defensive one,”

Prithvi Shaw had a dream debut in first class, list A and international career, century in debut matches in Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, India A and in now in a test match.