‘I was a bit nervous, but then tried to play my natural game’: Shaw

TIL Desk Sports/ Prithvi Shaw has been compared to batting great Sachin Tendulkar since he was a 14-year-old schoolboy and the lofty parallels will intensify after the teenage prodigy made a sparkling hundred on his Test debut on Thursday.

At 18 years and 329 days, Shaw became the youngest Indian and fourth-youngest overall to score a ton on his Test debut during a knock of 134 off 154 balls against the West Indies in Rajkot. The hosts reached 364/4 at the close after Shaw’s heroics put India on course for a big first-innings total in the opening Test.

In the process Shaw, who led India to the under-19 World Cup title earlier this year, also became the 15th Indian to hit a century on debut. His breezy knock received praise from Tendulkar, who was also known for dominating opposition bowlers as a young batsman.

‘Lovely to see such an attacking knock in your first innings, @prithvishaw! Continue batting fearlessly, Tendulkar tweeted. “First I was a bit nervous but when I got in I was quite comfortable and I was just trying to play my natural game, what I do in first-class cricket and in India A, and I just kept on going,” Shaw told.