On this day: Prithvi Shaw becomes the youngest Indian centurion on Test debut
The current Indian squad is brimming with talents, be it young or experienced ones. Whether it is ODI or Test, or T20 series, there is a neck and neck competition as to who will land up in the playing XI. With the finest of cricketers available for the selection, there has been stiff competition in all the sections. Some young talents that have come out emerging with flying colours are Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, etc.
They have displayed their absolute finesse whenever they have been given a chance. There have been stories of their brilliance that will always be remembered in times to come. One such incident happened back in October 2018 during a Test match against West Indies in Rajkot. An 18-year-old Mumbai boy walked up the cricket field to mark his Test debut and stole all the limelight amid his seniors, he was none other than Prithvi Shaw.
The blazing debut
During the Test match against the Caribbean team, Shaw marked his debut and scored an awe-inspiring century to turn all the eyes. He played a swashbuckling knock of 134 off 154 balls during the team’s first innings, and the day became even more memorable as it saw two more tons from the squad. Skipper Virat Kohli scored 139, and ace all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja scored significant 100 runs.
99-ball century on debut ? @PrithviShaw ?pic.twitter.com/j9Y9NHYYsB
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) October 4, 2018
Precisely 18 years and 329 days, Shaw became the youngest Indian to smash a century on Test debut. He became the fourth-youngest in the world to have achieved this feat after Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful (17 years and 61 days), Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza (17 years and 352 days), and Pakistan’s Saleem Malik (18 years and 323 days).
In the process, Shaw became the youngest Indian to score a half-century on debut obviously. Only Sachin Tendulkar and Parthiv Patel were younger than Shaw when they hit their maiden Test half-centuries, but it didn’t come on their respective debuts. While achieving this milestone, Shaw became the 15th Indian to score a century in his Test debut and surpassed big names like Kapil Dev, Abbas Ali Baig, and Madhav Apte.
After his magnificent performance, he was undoubtedly named as the player of the match, and India went on to crush WI by an innings and 272 runs. Shaw said in the post-match presentation show that it always feels good to get runs for the team, but he couldn’t have imagined this on his debut.
Shaw’s journey at a glance
Shaw marked his Test debut in the same match, which was being talked about so far, and entered the ODI cricket this very year (2020) in February. After displaying his brilliance in the domestic circuit, he went to level up his game quickly and also served as a captain of the U-19 Indian national cricket team. He has 2099 runs in first-class matches, and 346 runs in three Test matches he has played so far. He is being seen in high stature in the current edition of Indian Premier League where he is opening the innings for Delhi Capitals and has been faring great so far.
