Prithvi Shaw on his preparation and practice ahead of the closing day of play against South Africa A
What's the story
After a highly successful overseas tour against the England Lions in both limited overs' formats and the longer version of the game, Prithvi Shaw has come back to India where he has cemented his domination on the turf against South Africa in the ongoing four-day Test match.
When asked about his aspirations, Shaw said that he hoped to bat for long hours and that that was what he intended to do.
In case you didn't know...
In the limited-overs Tri-series involving England Lions, Windies A, and India A, Shaw amassed 353 runs in six matches, including two hundreds as India romped home with the title. In the first unofficial Test against Windies A, he scored 188 in the second innings, which helped India win the match and the series.
In the only unofficial Test against England, he scored 62, batting against the likes of England national starters like Sam Curran, James Porter, Dominic Bess and Chris Woakes.
Though India lost the game, the overall two-month period in England was highly productive for India as well as for Shaw, who made quite a run-fest.
And then after coming back home, he has made the switch to Indian conditions so flawlessly, which was evident from his previous day's knock of 136 runs against a touring South African A side.
He also stitched a valuable 277-run opening stand with Mayank Agarwal that has put India on the driving seat, with one more day remaining for the game to end.
The details
Shaw mainly uses his fluent drives as the way to counter pace attacks. The highlight of the recent innings was also the excess of drives in Shaw's 240-minute stint at the crease.
His hitting was so accurate that he found the offside gaps even with as much as six fielders packed up in the offside to counter his run-flow.
Add that to the rapport he shares with his long-time opening partner Mayank, and duo becomes one of the most formidable pairs in list-A cricket at the moment.
He has a penchant for batting long hours. "In the practice sessions, my backfoot was getting across but not in the real game. It is a mistake but Rahul (Dravid) sir said that it did not matter as long as the runs kept coming. I will try to rectify the mistake from my part," he said, before adding how India-A coach Dravid has been instrumental in making him know what he wants: "Rahul Sir keeps talking on the importance of being there mentally and being consistent. So I am keeping all these things in mind and going there and batting for long hours."
What's next
India A will be keen to pick up the remaining six wickets they need to win the game against South Africa A, with one day of play remaining. One more four-day game remains in the series, after which India A will involve themselves in a quadrangular ODI series with India B, Australia A and South Africa A as the remaining sides.