Delhi Daredevils' assistant coach lauds opener's quickfire 36-ball 65 against Hyderabad on Saturday; rues the fact that rest of the batting didn't click
Prithvi Shaw plays a lofted shot during Delhi' encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. His 65 went in vain. Pic/AFP
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With a penchant for making an early impression at all levels of cricket, Prithvi Shaw's reputation is growing exponentially in the higher echelons of the cricket world. It started with a ton on first-class debut, a 94 in India's U-19 World Cup opener and now a sparkling start to his IPL career, which has had even Mark Waugh smitten.
Waugh compared Shaw to Sachin Tendulkar recently.
The youngster has already amassed 205 runs at a strike-rate of over 170 so far for Delhi. While the limelight isn't new to Shaw, who had captured the attention of Mumbai at the age of 14 when he smashed 546 in a Harris Shield match for his school, he has adapted to the high pressure IPL environment quicker than most may have imagined. According to Delhi assistant coach Pravin Amre, Shaw has grown from strength to strength after two successful seasons for Mumbai in first-class cricket. "Well, obviously Prithvi is a special talent. I've known him since he was 14.
Pravin Amre
"From school days he was making headlines, then coming into first-class cricket and scoring that debut hundred and then four consecutive tons in first-class cricket. That matters to me — it's how you play in first-class cricket that counts. He did well as the India U-19 captain, but to me, it was important for him to get those four to five hundreds at the first-class level because that shows maturity.
"Yes, this is a different platform, but he has grabbed his opportunities, he has shown that spark and proved that he can perform at this level," said Amre. Here in Hyderabad, against arguably the best bowling attack in the tournament and on a bowler-friendly surface, Shaw's innings put Delhi in a commanding position.
Unfortunately, his teammates could only manage 68 runs in the last 10 overs after Shaw and Shreyas Iyer had taken them to 95 for one in the first 10 overs. "Looking at the bowling attack and the wicket, he played a very important knock. It wasn't easy to bat. If you see, we only managed about 68 in the last 10 overs that's why his knock was so important. He got us 95 runs in the first 10 overs. That was a very good foundation he gave us, but we could not capitalise," rued Amre.
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