The talented Shaw was the story of the day on Day One of the high profile Ranji Trophy Group C encounter between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu at MCA's Sharad Pawar Academy at BKC here on Tuesday.
Prithvi Shaw, 17, refers to Ravichandran Ashwin as 'Ashwin Sir'. The youngster may not know him personally, but he respects him for his seniority and for his achievements.
So, when 'Ashwin Sir' came in to bowl for the first time in the day's 10th over, Shaw treated the first two length balls with great respect — solid defence. The third was pitched a little up, and the youngster despatched it through covers for a four. It was a statement from the youngster that while the bowler may be respected highly on the field, the bad balls will be treated with disdain.
The talented Shaw was the story of the day on Day One of the high profile Ranji Trophy Group C encounter between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu at MCA's Sharad Pawar Academy at BKC here on Tuesday.
Shaw slammed a scintillating ton — 123 (155b,17x4s, 2x6s), his third in first-class cricket, while half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer (57, 62b, 7x4, 2x6) and captain Aditya Tare (53, 123b, 4x4, 1x6) saw Mumbai finish the day on a decent note after recovering from setbacks. The hosts were 314/7 at stumps with Abhishek Nayar (20, 106b) at the crease.
Shaw was also involved in three 50-plus partnerships with Iyer (98 for 2nd wicket), Suryakumar Yadav (63 for 3rd wicket) and Siddhesh Lad (51 for 4th wicket).
If not for a 63-run partnership and some intelligent batting from the senior pros Tare and Nayar, Mumbai, who were 245/5 at one stage, would have sunk after Shaw's dismissal post lunch.
Earlier in the day, Tare opted to bat first on familiar batting-friendly conditions. They also dared to leave out in-form Jay Bista, who had scored a ton in the previous game, and went with the opening duo of Shaw and southpaw Akhil Herwadkar.
The move, however, backfired as out of form Herwadkar was sent back leg before wicket in the second over of the day by seamer Yo Mahesh.
The wicket did not dampen Shaw's confidence as he had an equally aggressive partner in Shreyas Iyer. The duo took on the fast bowlers on a flat deck and punished them all around the park.
First, Shaw hit K Vignesh for a glorious cover driven boundary, then Iyer flicked Yo Mahesh off the pads to mid-wicket fence. The two gelled together and entertained with regular boundaries that frustrated the opponents.
Captain Abhinav Mukund realised it would not be wise to continue with the seamers, thus introduced left-arm spinner Rahil Shah in the eight over. The change in strategy didn't have any affect on Shaw as he slog-swept Shah for a six over long-on, leaving the TN skipper flustered.
Meanwhile, Iyer tonked Ashwin for a six over his head and then stepped out to Shah to complete his half-century. Following his 50, he fell to a bad shot against Vijay Shankar, when he nicked the ball to wicket-keeper N Jagadeesan.
Shaw, however, was unstoppable. Apart playing his regular favourite drives, the youngster unveiled some beautiful upper cuts when the TN pacers tested him with bouncers. The response from Shaw was a surprise as he had initially ducked under those short ones with discomfort. Once he found the length adjustable, he deflected the ball over slips.
As Shaw arrived on 99, he stepped out to hit Shah for a boundary and complete his three figure mark in style.
After surviving long, Shaw lost in the battle against 'Ashwin Sir' as he edged a straighter one to the slip fielder Baba Indrajith, who took a fantastic catch.
Scorecard
Mumbai (1st innings): P Shaw c Indrajith b Ashwin 123, A Herwadkar lbw b Mahesh 0, S Iyer c Jagadeesan b Shankar 57, S Yadav lbw b Mahesh 39, S Lad c Mahesh b Ashwin 18, AP Tare c Jagadeesan b Shankar 53, A Nayar batting 20, V Gohil c Vignesh b Shankar 2
Extras (NB1, W1) 2
Total (for 7 wkts, 89.1 overs) 314
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Herwadkar, 1.3 ov), 2-106 (Iyer, 21.1 ov), 3-169 (Yadav, 32.3 ov), 4-220 (Lad, 44.6 ov), 5-245 (Shaw, 53.6 ov), 6-308 (Tare, 85.4 ov), 7-314 (Gohil, 89.1 ov)
Bowling: K Vignesh 11-0-43-0, Y Mahesh 12-1-58-2, R Shah 25-3-82-0, R Ashwin 29-5-77-2, V Shankar 8.1-2-37-3, Washington Sundar 4-0-17-0
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