Once an athlete returns home with a trophy, a mountain of expectations are placed on his shoulder. In such situations, one either excels or succumbs. After the Under-19 World Cup triumph, a handful of the lads have attracted huge bids from the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises already.
From past experiences, many of these lads have realised the need to stick to training, even after their commercial rise. Prithvi Shaw was bought by Delhi Daredevils in the IPL player auction for Rs 1.20 cr. For a lad who started his journey every morning in a Virar local to hone his skills, this amount meant a great deal to him and his father.
As soon as the celebrations were over, he joined the Mumbai squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018 for the league stages. He scored 145 in four innings, with an average of 36.25, while his counterpart Shubman Gill scored a century with Punjab.
For Prithvi, who made a blistering debut in the domestic circuit, the rising star is still aiming for bigger knocks. And as he attempts the same, he is missing out. Mumbai coach Sameer Dighe is the one to point this out. “His talent is phenomenal, and we are lucky to have him in our side. What he needs to learn is the art of finishing. He is always in a hurry to get runs on the board and in that process, he often gives his wicket away,” says Dighe, who took charge of the team last year.
“There is no doubt about his skills or technique, but there are aspects that any young guy has to work on,” he adds.
This season was the not the best for a side like Mumbai, which has 41 Ranji Trophies in its cabinet. Even though the batting was the highlight of the season, the bowlers could not match up. Dighe and the selectors chose a younger squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy to make the
difference.
“The bowling was not the best for us,” says Dighe. “A few other things did not go as planned for the team, and we suffered. But nonetheless, we will try to end the season with this trophy.”
He adds, “We know that we will face tougher teams in the knockout stages, but the boys need to show the nerve to do the job.”
Mumbai will play in the quarter finals of the tournament either on February 21 or 22, depending on the results of the remaining games.
