Talented India player Prithvi Shaw has been out of the national team for quite some time now despite scoring runs. He recently smashed a triple ton – 379 vs Assam – and registered the second-highest individual score in the history of the competition as well. Meanwhile, his childhood coach Prashant Shetty revealed the chat he had with the talented youngster.
‘Sir mujhe bada hi karna padega and bada karunga,’ these were the words Shaw said to his coach before the domestic season got started. The duo used to spend hours on the ground to get the India opener ready and his hard work is finally paying off.
“I think it’s just the realisation that ‘bahut bada karna padega’ to get noticed. It was in his mind when we were practicing before the season. He had told me that ‘sir mujhe bada hi karna padega and bada karuga’. He had said this before going and himself had realised that 100s can become 150s, 150s can become 200s and 200s maybe 300s,” Shaw’s childhood coach Shetty told News18 Cricketnext.com in an exclusive chat.
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He continued: “Motivation is simple. Work hard off the ground and ground pe sirf balla baat kare. Simple. There is no arrogance in it. If you have to do it, do it on the ground and show it on the ground. Whatever talks are happening can quickly turn in your favour when runs start coming. He is already been an India player – has played for the senior team. It’s not that he has not seen that level. And the motivation to get back there and stay there has always been there. I told him that you have to get back to that (Indian team) dressing room. So you have to work hard and keep performing to get there,” says Shetty.
Thank you so much @JayShah sir. Your words of encouragement means a lot. Will keep working hard. https://t.co/RoDw5FbUEV
— Prithvi Shaw (@PrithviShaw) January 11, 2023
However, there were very few technical changes Shaw made to his batting and it was just to increase the appetite for runs. For Shetty, it was making him revisit what he has already done with the bat at the school level and the kind of hunger he showed in his foundation years as well. The message to him was simple and straight – play straight and continue to score every inning.
“There has been no technical change, just mental. At the level he is playing, he knows who is planning what. So it has been purely mental toughness. He has practiced really hard, a lot of focus was on preparation. He would practice hard and practice long before the season. That hunger in him was very visible this time around. He should play as straight as possible early on and then he has the skills to make it big. Just play straight initially was my communication with him when we were practicing before the season. And for us it’s like jaise wo school mai karta tha – 200, 100, 300. I know the level is different but he has what it takes to put up a string of scores like he did at the school level – 100 after 100. He had a big appetite then and it’s about continuing with the same at this level now. Not just every match, but every inning,” says Shetty.
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However, Shetty doesn’t complicate things for the youngster and continues to motivate him to keep scoring runs with the bat as well. Shaw’s consistency, across formats in domestic competitions is praiseworthy. But, he continues to be ignored for the A set-up too but Shetty feels more scores like these will help the selectors to pick him again.
“People will continue to talk. Even if you fail one inning, they will talk. People criticised someone like Virat Kohli too, so Shaw ko bhi bahut kara. Even he knows that criticism is part and parcel of his life. Not only off field, but he has been under the scanner for how he plays too. Question marks have been there on his attacking game and approach at top of the order. But he knows that the people who matter can only be pleased with performances. Baaki jo chal raha hai chalne do, tu bas run kar has always been my message to him,” says Shetty.
“Next step is up to the selectors and people who matter in the BCCI. But for me, the focus is that he continues to score with the bat. His job is to score and he should continue doing that. For me, important is Prithvi’s mindset. Very few bat like him in the domestic, even world circuit. If groomed, Prithvi can be an asset in any format. Our perception is that our opener should see of first few hours and then score. But there is no guarantee to runs coming after that. But with Prithvi, if he bats for two hours, he can make a match out of it on any given day,” concluded Shetty.
