India vs West Indies: Prithvi Shaw slams Test century on debut, second youngest Indian Test centurion after Sachin Tendulkar
NEW DELHI: It was nothing less than a dream debut for Prithvi Shaw as the Mumbai batsman became just the 15th Indian cricketer to score a century in his debut Test match. The 18-year-old reached the milestone during the opening day of the first Test against the West Indies at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday. Shaw is also the youngest Indian to score a century on debut.
Shaw, at 18 years 329 days is now also the second youngest Indian ever to score a Test century, after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin, at 17 years and 107 days scored his maiden Test century in 1990 vs England in Manchester, with a fine unbeaten knock of 119.
Shaw, who opened the innings for India against the West Indies on Day 1, took 99 balls to get to his maiden Test century. His innings was studded with 15 boundaries.
With this century, Shaw has etched his name alongside the likes of legendary cricketers Lala Amarnath, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly.
Apart from Amarnath, Azharuddin and Ganguly, Deepak Shodhan, AG Kirpal Singh, Abbas Ali Baig, Hanukant Singh, Gundappa Viswanath, Surinder Amarnath, Mohammad Azharuddin, Pravin Amre, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are the other cricketers who kicked off their Test career with a century in their debut Tests.
Shaw is now the seventh youngest cricketer overall to score a Test century. Bangladesh's Mohd Ashraful is on top the list, followed by Mushtaq Ahmed, Sachin Tendulkar, Hamilton Masakadza, Imran Nazir and Saleem Malik. Shaw became the third batsman after Shikhar Dhawan (85 balls) and Dwayne Smith (93) to hit his debut ton in under 100 balls.