Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt shared his views on young Indian sensation Prithvi Shaw. He feels Shaw needs to perform consistently in order to replicate the former players that he has been compared with.
Shaw has often been compared with former Indian legend Virender Sehwag and West Indian legend Sir Vivian Richards, who were destructive batsmen of their time and had the ability to take the game away from the opposition within no time.
Also Read: Prithvi Shaw wished his rumoured girlfriend Prachi Singh on her birthday
Shaw had a torrid time in the past but he changed the fortune by coming good with the bat in recent months. He was dropped from the team after the opening Test against Australia in Adelaide. However, he made a comeback on the back of a record-breaking domestic season with Mumbai in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Butt mentioned Shaw has to show consistency in order to be in the same bracket as Sehwag and Lara.
“Some fans feel it is wrong to ask Prithvi Shaw to alter his game. They point out to Virender Sehwag and Viv Richards, who succeeded by playing their own brand of cricket. When you start producing results, you can stake a claim to a particular style of play being yours. You have to score big runs and hundreds to justify a different kind of mindset while batting,” Butt said on his Youtube channel.
Also Read: Prithvi Shaw is a showstopper, says Suryakumar Yadav
“Look at the gap between Richards and Sehwag’s careers. It took nearly 10-15 years after Richards for the cricket world to see a player with a similar attacking mindset in Sehwag. Richards scored 180 in England at a time when 225 was considered a good ODI total.
“Sehwag scored two triple hundreds in Test cricket and averaged over 50 for most of his career. Just by playing like them, one cannot become a Sehwag or a Richards. You have to put up that kind of a performance.”
Butt feels Shaw plays too many aggressive shots early in his innings and needs to convert his starts in big knocks.
“To give himself stability, a youngster has to convert starts. Talking of Prithvi Shaw, I saw him playing one-dayers for India in New Zealand as well. He used to hit three-four cracking boundaries and then get out. So, when something is not letting you continue and stopping you from making a big score, you need to modify it. You first need to score runs and then shape up in your own style,” Butt continued to say.
“He has all the strokes in his repertoire, but Prithvi Shaw is playing too many shots too early. He needs to take into consideration factors like time, pace, wicket and opposition and manage his innings accordingly. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar paced his innings as per the situation,” Butt added.
