On this day in 2018: Prithvi Shaw achieves a record-breaking feat
On this day (October 6), India’s U-19-star batter Prithvi Shaw announced his arrival to the international scene with a bang in 2018 and he broke a lot of records on his debut Test against West Indies in Rajkot. After electing to bat first, India went in with the opening combination of Shaw and KL Rahul at the top and it paid dividends as Shaw looked in destructive mode straightaway.
The youngster wasn’t afraid to play his shots and he found the gaps consistently. Particularly, his off-side stroke play was of the highest order and he impressed the fans with his breath-taking cover drivers and backfoot punches. He couldn’t have had a better partner from the other end in the form of experienced Cheteshwar Pujara and the pair took advantage of the West Indies bowlers who strayed away from their lines and lengths consistently.
Shaw reached his half-century quickly and looked in complete control throughout his innings. He tried to accelerate once he went past the 50-run mark and his strike rate was on the higher end for a Test innings. Most of his runs came through the boundaries and Shaw never allowed any of the bowlers to settle in.
As an 18-year-old, Shaw became the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut and he left the fans in awe with his fantastic shots. The right-hander looked like he belonged to the international arena and he did not stop after getting to the three-figure mark. Shaw was finally dismissed for 134 off just 154 balls by Devendra Bishoo with 19 boundaries in his innings.
Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were the other two centurions in the same innings, as India posted a massive 649 for 9. West Indies lost the Test by an innings and 272 runs and Shaw bagged the player of the match for a stunning debut.
