Guwahati: If you think it is hard to ignore the noise on virtual platforms in this age of social media, imagine being an Indian cricketer. The fan base may love you to bits, but can easily forget you once you are dropped from the national team due to loss of form or whatever reason.
Prithvi Shaw, who rose to national prominence in 2018 after becoming the youngest Indian Test centurion on debut, and just the second to score a Test century in his teens after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, has learnt to deal with the noise, and the pressures of being a top talent.
He prefers to ignore everything said or written about him and instead focuses on working on transforming himself to earn a recall to the national side.
Prithvi last played for India during the white-ball tour to Sri Lanka in 2021 while his last Test appearance came in December 2020.
“There is no alternative. I prefer to ignore the noise on social media. It’s not that I don’t use it but I limit myself and instead utilise the time consumed in scrolling the mobile screen to improve my batting. I know there will be criticisms and praises at the same time and people are free to make their opinions about me. If I’m doing my things right, and working on the process, I know I am on the right track, there will be opportunities coming my way,” Shaw said in a conversation with EastMojo.
On Wednesday, the Mumbai batter proved himself right, and more importantly, silenced his critics by scripting his name in the record books with a breath-taking 379 off 383 deliveries in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B contest against Assam on a flat deck at the newly-constructed Amingaon Cricket Stadium here.
Shaw’s mammoth knock was the second highest by an Indian in First Class (FC) cricket after Maharashtra’s Bhausaheb Babasaheb Nimbalkar’s 443 not out against Kathiawar on December 16, 1948.
It was also the highest score by an Indian opener in FC cricket, and in the process, the 23-year-old also became the first ever Indian cricketer to register a triple hundred in Ranji Trophy, a double hundred in Vijay Hazare Trophy and a century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Shaw’s knock will also be a part of Mumbai cricket’s folklore as it was the eighth instance when a Mumbaikar slammed a triple ton in a First Class match. Shaw also overtook Sanjay Manjrekar’s record of 377 against Hyderabad in April 1991 to top the list of Mumbai’s triple centurions.
At the Amingaon Stadium on Wednesday, the umpire took a while to raise his finger after a loud appeal by Shaw’s Under-19 teammate Riyan Parag and his Assam teammates, signalling the end of the marathon knock, 21 runs shy of the quadruple century. It also ended the mammoth 401-run stand between Shaw and his skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who fell 9 short of what would have been his second double century of this Ranji season.
A visibly disappointed Shaw shook his head while taking the long walk back to the dressing room and walked up to the match referee to watch the replay. “It was disappointing as you don’t get an opportunity to score a 400 every day. Good to get those runs under your belt but somewhere the hunger for not getting to the magic mark is still there. But you have to take it in your stride, and it’s history now. I have scored those runs, and I’m happy to get the momentum,” he told EastMojo after the day’s play.
This provided the youngster with the much-needed momentum as he had managed mere 168 runs including a lone fifty against Saurashtra in the past seven innings. “Whether it’s a club match or an international game, I play every game as a professional match. This is a great boost to my confidence.”
“I prefer living in the moment and achieving the bigger goal of helping Mumbai win the Ranji Trophy,” he added.
Shaw, who headed back on an undefeated 240 after the opening day’s play, revealed that he had dozed off before thoughts of scoring a triple ton flashed his mind. “Usse pehle toh so gaya tha (I slept off before thinking about the milestone).”
A brand new ground with a picturesque backdrop by the historic Saraighat bridge, the 2018 Under-19 World Cup-winning skipper is happy to etch his name in the record books of Assam cricket. “This is a lovely track to bat on, but there is uneven bounce, and sometimes the ball tends to stay low. Even the spinners got some turn, but the ball was coming on the bat when the seamers were operating. Overall it’s a good pitch to bat on. I will return with happy memories of the ground.”
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Shaw knows that the only way to unlock the doors of international cricket is through performance, but he prefers to continue with the process rather than wasting time on things which are beyond his control.
It will be interesting to see if Prithvi’s knock serves as a timely reminder to the five wise men in the BCCI selection committee when they sit to select the squad for the four-match Test series against Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting February 9.
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