Teenage opener Prithvi Shaw slammed his fourth century in five first-class matches to help Mumbai reach 264 for six against Odisha at stumps on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group "C" match in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
The 17-year-old, who has been talked of highly ever since he made his debut in the last season, struck a 105 studded with 18 boundaries and added 136 valuable runs for the second wicket with experienced Ajinkya Rahane (49).
Among Indian batsmen, only Sachin Tendulkar has scored more first-class hundreds before the age of 18; he had seven three figure scores.
Who is Prithvi Shaw?
Shaw announced his arrival in Ranji Trophy after scoring a century on debut against Tamil Nadu in the semi-final in the 2016-17 season. The batsman also became the second-youngest to score a century in Duleep Trophy's history.
But this is not his first brush with success.
Prithvi, who was born in Thane, Maharashtra, smashed 546 off 330 balls in a school match in 2013, at the age of 14.
But life hasn’t always been easy for young Shaw. His mother passed away when he was just four-years-old. His father, however, encouraged him to pursue his dream. And even shut his own business to focus on his son's career.
Everyday the father-son duo would travel for one and a half hours by train from Virar to Bandra in Mumbai, for Prithvi’s practice sessions. And now their hard word is bearing fruit.
Prithvi is now only the sixth player to score a century in both his Ranji trophy and Duleep trophy debut. Much like his idol Sachin Tendulkar.
Mumbai Reach 264 for 6 on Day 1
In Wednesday's match, Odisha elected to bowl and started on a promising note, dismissing Akhil Herwadkar (14) in the sixth over itself. Shaw and Rahane then averted any further damage as they batted with both caution and aggression.
Shaw, in particular, scored at an impressive strike rate of 68.63, and looked strong before falling leg before to Basant Mohanty in the 44th over.
Mumbai's progress slowed down after the dismissal of Shaw as the team scored only 108 runs in the next 46 overs.
Rahane, who wasn’t named in India’s squad for the T20 series against New Zealand, missed out on a half-century.
Surya Kumar Yadav (23) and Siddesh Lad (33) got decent starts but could not kick on.
Skipper Aditya Tare (28) and Akash Parkar (3) were at the crease when stumps were drawn.
Veteran all-rounder Abhishek Nayar, a tenacious batsman, who has rescued the team on numerous occasions, fell in the 81st over leaving Tare a lot to do with the tail for company.
For Odisha, Biplab Samantray and Basant Mohanty took two wickets apiece.
Brief scores: Mumbai 264 for six in 90 overs (Prithvi Shaw 105, Ajinkya Rahane 49, Biplab Samantray 2 for 26) vs Odisha.
At Vizianagaram: Madhya Pradesh 219 for five in 89 overs (Shubam Sharma 60, Prithvi Raj Yarra 3 for 35) vs Andhra Pradesh.
At Vadodara: Baroda 304 for five in 90 overs (Vishnu Solanki 116, Abhijit Karambelkar 75 not out, Gurinder Singh 2 for 61) vs Tripura.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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