If you are a cricket fanatic and someone who happens to live in a cricket crazy country, then you may not be averse in undertaking a simple experiment.
Simply walk down to your local market or enquire at a busy taxi stand. In fact, better still. Simply sit down for a chat with the waiter serving you your favourite Latte or hold onto that tiny cutting chai glass at the local chaiwala (tea-stall).
Just ask a simple question.
How talented is a certain Prithvi Shaw. Just make this harmless enquiry. Chances are, at least 7 or 8 in 10 might end up saying that the future of Indian cricket’s batting lies in the hands of this ardent youngster.
It may not even come as a surprise to hear some admit passionately that Prithvi Shaw is like another little maestro in the making.
After all, how could such a worthy comparison be so outlandishly off the mark when someone like Virender Sehwag himself had admitted that Shaw’s batting combined the efficacy of Lara and the class of Sachin?
But right now, if you were to simply type in his name on your preferred search engine, then the results may not exactly be savory.
A few hours back, an official statement from the BCCI stated that the belligerent right-hander has been suspended from active cricket until November 15.
This ban is in lines with a (urine) sample submitted as part of an anti-doping testing program Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy containing a banned substance called Terbutaline.
However, promptly apologizing for the incident, Prithvi Shaw, maintaining absolute innocence stated that it all would’ve certainly occurred owing to his consumption of a cough syrup he happened to have consumed recently. Luckily for the teenager, the BCCI have understood his reply and found it satisfactory believing that it wasn’t done to enhance his performance.
But that told, Shaw’s sidelining means that he will not be participating in the series in the Caribbean and would also subsequently miss out on the home series against South Africa.
Thoughts go out to the very talented batsman. Thankfully, Shaw’s actions weren’t in any way intentional nor were borne out of deliberate misconduct.
In the past, some exceptional talents have walked down the wrong side of the law, courting trouble deliberately only to find themselves out of meaningful cricketing action despite knowing the end-result their actions would manifest.
It’s happened to Andre Russell who missed out 1 full year of international cricket. Earlier, during his peak, it happened to Shane Warne as well.
We know the entire ‘mum suggested the drug’ which turned out to be banned diuretics.
That said, Prithvi Shaw, a simpleton whose heart is completely entrenched in cricket, his life, would’ve learnt the lesson that in the contemporary structure of cricket one has to tread carefully. It would’ve helped him understand that even something as harmless as consuming an OTC bottle of cough syrup isn’t in any way productive as the incident turned out to be.
Moreover, at 19, Prithvi’s a newborn in the sport. His best years lie ahead of him. While agreed, he was careless in this regard, it’s important to take cognizance of the fact that nothing that Shaw did was in any way intentional. And that he’s focused on contributing with the bat, something he immediately showed upon being picked for his Test debut.
In 2018, against the West Indies, he struck a fiery 134 and looked in no trouble against Gabriel and Roach.
Having also made his IPL debut a few months later, he struck a crisp fifty, his career-best 99, in his maiden run in cricket’s most loved format.
You cannot be blamed for thinking that batsmen like Shaw would not intentionally tamper with the unknown and would want to conduct themselves like the four wheels of a car within the race line and limits. He’s someone who looks up to and has worked close under Rahul Dravid’s watch.
He won’t disappoint his mentor and fans, right? All the best for a swift comeback.
