‘A bit nervous, but really proud’ – Prithvi Shaw

Shaw’s meteoric rise up the cricket ladder will continue in Rajkot on Thursday, 4 October, when he steps out on the field in Test whites for the first time. That much was confirmed earlier on Wednesday when India named the 12 in contention for the first Test against the Windies.

Shaw is already touted to be the next big thing in Indian cricket, but so far, he’s handled all the expectations supremely – he captained India to the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup earlier this year in New Zealand, performed solidly in the Indian Premier League thereafter, and scored a ton of runs for India A in England in July.

The butterflies that come ahead of a maiden Test appearance are unlike any other, but fortunately for Shaw, Kohli was on hand to help him through it.

“I’m feeling very good, very proud,” he told bcci.tv. “A bit nervous, but when I came to the dressing room, everyone was like … ‘over here, there’s no senior and junior,’ Virat bhai and Ravi sir told me. It felt really nice, I was very comfortable.”

Shaw said that Kohli, as passionate as he is on the field, is “a really funny guy” off it. “On the field, obviously, we know he’s really tough, but off the field he’s a nice guy, a funny guy,” said Shaw. “I just spoke to him and had a few jokes – he was just trying to speak Marathi [the language spoken in the Indian state of Maharashtra], which was really funny.

As far as the match is concerned, Shastri’s advice to Shaw was to “just go and do whatever you’ve been doing in Ranji Trophy, whatever you’ve been doing for so many years” and the 18-year-old plans to do just that.

“When I go for nets, I don’t like to get out over there. It’s very important before the game, when you go to the practice session, it’s very important to bat properly, bat like how you’re going to in the coming match.”

After the Rajkot Test, the teams will travel to Hyderabad for the second of the two-match series.