17-yr-old 500-hitter selected in Mumbai's Ranji team
Mumbai have included 17-year-old cricketer Prithvi Shaw in their squad for the Ranji Trophy semifinal to be played in Rajkot from January 1. Shaw created a record by scoring 546 runs in the Harris Shield school tournament in 2013, the then-highest score in school cricket and then third-highest score going by all registered scorecards available worldwide in competitive cricket.
Not all of them may have had their first razor experience but they are ready to smell the perfume ball. Prithvi Shaw's initiation into the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team, aged 17 completes the trio of Mumbai cricket's boy wonders' transition to higher grade cricket. That each one of them have been chosen for Ranji Trophy before reaching adulthood is reassuring that the record makers haven't just been flash in the pan.Prithvi who has made the squad for a game none less than a Ranji Trophy semi-final to be played against Tamil Nadu on January 1 is fresh from a victorious Asia Cup U-19 campaign under Rahul Dravid's tutelage. Prithvi who first made news, aged 14, scoring a record individual score of 546 in the famed Harris Shield, made 191 runs from five matches as an opener in Asia Cup for India U-19. Mumbai's Chairman of selectors Milind Rege while wishing the youngster well did admit Shaw benefitted from lack of quality opening options knocking at the selectors' door. "Prithvi has scored runs in age group cricket. So we want to try him out. But honestly it's also true that we have struggled to find two good openers for the past two years. With Akhil Herwadkar unavailable, we wanted to reward Prithvi for the runs he has scored," Rege told India Today.Rege did add that having had a word with Dravid convinced the selectors to pick Prithvi. "He did think highly of his batting abilities when I spoke to him," he said.  The Mumbai selectors would hope Prithvi's transition from cricketing adolescence to adulthood is more fruitful than another boy wonder, Armaan Jaffer, they tried earlier in the season. Armaan whose schools' record of 498 runs was bettered by Prithvi, could only muster 44 runs in the six innings he played for Mumbai.Rege agrees bridging the gap between age group cricket to Ranji Trophy does not come easy. "I was surprised Armaan did not do well. He is a very organized player. But making the grade from age group cricket to Ranji Trophy is as difficult as is the one from first class to international cricket," he says.