Prithvi Shaw Opens Up On Being Compared With The Great Sachin Tendulkar

Prithvi Shaw is not your usual kid. He came on the scene as a prodigal kid and has further enhanced his reputation with a stunning maiden Indian Premier League season.

Shaw, who led India to the Under-19 World this year, first shot to the limelight as a 14-year-old when he scored 546 off 330 balls in the Harris Shield. From that very moment, he has been compared with fellow Mumbai player and cricket great Sachin Tendulkar. The former India star had a similar success at school level before making it big in international cricket.

Recently, former Australian opener, Mark Waugh, compared Shaw’s batting to that of Tendulkar.  Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop too had compared Shaw’s front foot drive to Tendulkar, while doing commentary at the U-19 World Cup.

Last year, Shaw had hit a century on Ranji Trophy debut in the semifinals against Tamil Nadu. He then became the youngest at 17 to score a hundred on Duleep Trophy debut, eclipsing Tendulkar’s record. His performance in this year’s IPL was also brilliant. He finished the tournament with an impressive 245 runs in nine games. The runs came at a healthy strike rate of 153.12. Not surprisingly, the comparisons with Tendulkar have been further elevated.

But in a recent interview, Shaw dismissed those comparisons saying he had a long way to go before matching master blaster’s standard.

“Obviously, it feels good. But, I can’t compare myself to Tendulkar, because he has already finished his 25 years of international career and scored 100 hundreds. I’ve not even stepped in international cricket. However, getting praise from Mark (Waugh) sir means a lot. I hope to make his words come true and keep scoring runs,” he said.

Shaw, meanwhile, will have another chance to impress by doing well for India A on the upcoming tour of England. He said he is looking forward to the challenge and believes he will be able to do well under the guidance of Rahul Dravid.

“This will be the sixth or seventh time I’m going to England. I’m ready for it. Obviously when we go there, the conditions are going to be different. It’s not going to be easy. Even if I would have played there for three-four years, it wouldn’t have been easy. So, it’s going to be difficult now as well. But a little bit of adjustment is needed. I need to plan for it,” he said.

“How I bat is completely different from how Rishabh Pant or Shreyas Iyer bat. So, it will be about individual movement and adjustment at the crease. I’m matured now to understand these things and of course Rahul sir will be there to help us with his 20 years of international experience,” he said.