Record-breaking Prithvi Shaw reveals Sachin Tendulkar’s precious guidance

India and Mumbai opener Prithvi Shaw has sensationally turned his form around in the on-going Vijay Hazare Trophy. Shaw has become the batsman to score the highest runs in the history of this tournament, with 754 runs in 7 games with four hundreds – including three scores of 150-plus – and a top-score of 227 not out. 

The 21-year-old batting sensation endured a poor season in Indian Premier League 2020 for Delhi Capitals as coach Ricky Ponting highlighted the shortcomings in his game. Then his weakness to in-swingers was again exposed during India’s tour of Australia. Shaw opened the innings for India in the first Test in Adelaide and played just 6 balls in the two innings he played. 

The young opener was dropped from the playing XI as Shubman Gill replaced him. Shaw recently opened up about his struggles with the bat and how he talked to Sachin Tendulkar after the Australia tour. 

“I met Sachin sir (Tendulkar) after I came back, he said don’t make too many changes and to just play as close to the body as I could. I was late on the ball. So during the entire Australia tour, I worked on that part. Maybe it was because I had gone to Australia after playing in Dubai (IPL),” Shaw was quoted as saying by Indian Express newspaper. 

“My mind was messed up. My bat was coming down from the gully area, but that’s how I have scored runs all my life. The problem was the way I was getting out and I had to fix it immediately. My back lift was the same but my bat was coming down slightly away from my body. There was an issue with the initial movement. I was in a fixed position. I needed to keep my bat closer to my body, which I wasn’t doing,” Shaw added. 

Shaw also revealed that he sought the help of head coach Ravi Shastri and batting coach Vikram Rathour to fix his problems. 

“Ravi (Shastri) Sir and Vikram (Rathour) Sir made me realize where I was going wrong. I had to find a solution. Just go back to the nets and fix it. There were small mistakes that I was making. Those two innings (Adelaide, pink-ball Test) made me look bad,” he said.