It would not be an enchantment to say that after Sachin Tendulkar, the biggest debut which was destined was Prithvi Pankaj Shaw’s debut. Because like Tendulkar, Shaw also had scored big in school. Smashing 134(154) in his test debut on 4th September against the Caribbean, he made his announcement of arrival.
As the 18 years, old walked down the pitch with aspiration and determination, neither he nor anybody would have thought that he will be able to find a niche in the heart of 125 million cricket devotees. How hard it would have been for a teenager who lost his mother in his early childhood stage, to bear the pressure of 125 million dreams, but he astonished everybody in the park by his scintillating performance.
Achievement
With his Maiden test debut century, he became the only Indian batsman to achieve the milestone of scoring centuries in Test, Ranji, and Duleep debut. Shaw at 18 years, 10 month and 26 days, became the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut. He had also skippered Under 19 world cup winning team and even also had scored his maiden century in his debut in Ranji at the same Rajkot venue and in Duleep trophy.
Youngest to score 100 on Test debut:
| Name | Country | Age | Run Scored |
| M Ashraful | Bangladesh | 17 year 61 days | 114 |
| H Masakzada | Zimbabwe | 17 year 352 days | 119 |
| Salim Malik | Pakistan | 18 year 232 days | 100* |
| Prithvi Shaw | India | 18 years 329 days | 134 |
He also grasped 4th place in scoring the fastest ton in a test debut:
| Name | Country | Ball faced | Opponent | Date |
| Shikhar Dhawan | India | 85 | Australia | 2012 |
| Dwayne Smith | West Indies | 93 | South Africa | 2003 |
| Prithvi Shaw | India | 99 | West Indies | 2018 |
The Hard Graft
The stupendous achievement is not merely a matter of luck, it is the Mumbai-born young lad previous diligent works in the past, as he had to travel 70 km daily from his residence to practice ground. His hard work and his father Pankaj Shaw’s strong belief in his son made everything possible.
Whether it is Sachin, Rohit, Virat, Shewag or even international cricketers have appreciated and congratulated him for his jaw-dropping performance. There is always a question mark for a guy who had performed well in domestic that whether he would be able to do the same at international level, but the century at Rajkot seals it.
“I was thinking about Dad, as he has sacrificed a lot for me… My first hundred it’s all for him. Whenever I score, I score for him,” –Shaw
“He (Shaw) showed he belonged to the Test level and the West Indies bowlers gave him some loose deliveries to get him going. It was a very good pitch to bat on but having said that, you still have to get runs and he did that in style,”-Sunil Gavaskar