Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw (born 9 November 1999) ^[1] is an Indian cricketer who plays for Middle Income Group (MIG) Cricket Club in Mumbai and is the captain of Rizvi Springfield High School and the Mumbai under-16 team. In November 2013 he had set the highest score by any batsman in any organised form of cricket since 1901 when he hit 546 in a Harris Shield elite division match until the record was surprassed by Pranav Dhanawade on 4 January 2016.^[2]

He is a right hand batsman and right-arm off-spin bowler all rounder whose abilities as a cricketing prodigy have led to repeated comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar. Shaw has been trained by a one year younger than him, Chetanya Bhatti who is from Delhi. Shaw is widely tipped to become a full India international.^[3]

Shaw was a central figure in the documentary film Beyond All Boundaries ^[4] and has twice been selected to travel to England to further his cricketing education.^[5][6]

Teen Sensation Prithvi Shaw has earned a deal worth Rs 36 lakh with SG, who have been endorsed by stalwarts like Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag in the past. ^[7]

Early life

Shaw was born in Thane, Maharashtra, and enrolled aged three in the Virar cricket academy by his father. His mother died when he was a toddler^[8] and his father gave up his business to focus on Shaw's cricketing career.

In 2010, Shaw was offered a contract by AAP Entertainment that allowed him and his father to move to Mumbai and continue his cricketing education.^[9] He also receives sponsorship from Indian Oil.^[10]

Early career

Shaw captained Rizvi Springfield to two Harris Shield titles in 2012 and 2013, the most prestigious trophy in Indian youth cricket. In 2012, he scored 155 in the semi-final and 174 in the final match.^[11]

He trains and plays for MIG Cricket Club in Mumbai, where Arjun Tendulkar, son of Sachin, is a team-mate.^[12] His coach is Rajeev Pathak.

In April 2012, Shaw was invited to England to play for Cheadle Hulme School in Manchester and scored 1,446 runs during a two-month stay. He scored a century on debut^[13] and averaged 84. He also took 68 wickets.^[14]

In 2013 Prithvi Shaw played for Cryptics Vs. Middleton Stoney Cricket Club in Oxfordshire. He opened the batting and scored 68 in under 10 overs before a change of pace in English conditions led to his dismissal, caught off the bowling of Professor Paul Wordsworth. In this time, his opening partner had reached just 7 runs. He also bowled, taking 3 wickets for 1 run in 5 overs and completed a run out.^[15]

After once scoring 73 runs against a side from the Julian Wood Cricket Academy in England, the academy's founder, Julian Wood, offered Shaw a trip to England in May 2013 and a stint at the academy.^[16] He also played for Bradfield College in Berkshire, which includes the former Hampshire batsman and broadcaster Mark Nicholas among its alumni.

Shaw spent the 2014 English summer playing for Cleethorpes in the Yorkshire ECB County Premier League^[17]

National record

In November 2013, Shaw established a new record of 546 runs from 330 balls playing for Rizvi Springfield in a Harris Shield match.^[18] It was the highest score in Indian schools cricket until the record was surprassed by Pranav Dhanawade on 4 January 2016 and is presently the 4th highest score by any batsman in any form of the organised game. Only AEJ Collins's 628* in 1899 and Charles Eady's 566 in 1901 are higher.^[19][20]

Previously the highest score recorded by an Indian in any form of registered competitive cricket was 515 by Dadabhoy Havewala in 1933.^[21]

Shaw's innings lasted six hours and seven minutes and contained 85 fours and five sixes before he was caught and bowled. Rizvi scored 991 runs having bowled out their opponents, St Francis d'Assisi, for 93.^[22]

The innings attracted significant media attention, particularly as it came only four days after the official retirement from international cricket of Tendulkar, who had scored 326 in the same tournament in 1988. "Less than a week after India bid its final farewell to the Little Master, the Master’s Apprentice conjured an innings of almost supernatural brilliance," wrote Howard Swains in a Freaky Good Futures profile of Shaw.^[23]

Team

• Rizvi Springfield High School, Mumbai (Coca-Cola Schools: 2012/13)
• Polly Umrigar XI (2011–14)
• Mumbai Under-14s (2011–12)
• High Lane CC (2012)
• Eknath Solkar XI (2012–13)
• Mumbai Under-16s (2012–13)
• Bradfield College (2013-14)
• Hartley Wintney CC (2013-14)
• Parel Sporting Club (2013–14)
• Rizvi Springfield High School, Mumbai (2013–14)

References