Shaw feels the joy of taking on bowlers after fifty on return
MUMBAI: After reaching his halfcentury, Prithvi Shaw tapped the bat face, gesturing as if to say: “I’m letting my bat do the talking”. After a doping ban of eight months ended on Friday, it was a nice feeling for the 20-year-old, who scored 63 off 39 balls in his first comeback game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai’s last group game win over Assam in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.
The under-19 World Cup-winning skipper chose his words carefully, careful not to stir up another controversy.
“I’ve been feeling good about my batting since I started practice again. I would say I was in touch. I was desperate to play for a while now. I was really excited about the game today, what better than our winning,” Shaw said after Mumbai’s 83-run victory.
What did he do during the break? Bide his time and hone his skills. He travelled to London for a short visit as he couldn’t train before September 15. As the end of his ban neared, he spent the last few weeks at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru under the guidance of Rahul Dravid and faced the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Aaron in the nets.
For a player known to spend a long time in the nets since his school days, Shaw said time away from the sport was difficult to deal with. “For the first 20-25 days after I was banned, I was not able to make sense of things. After that I steadied myself, kept myself mentally stronger. But it kept getting harder with each passing day,” said Shaw, who was handed a back-dated eight-month ban on July 30.
“As the day of return came closer, I started to get my act together. Had I gone into a shell, I would have felt pressure during the game. But whatever happens is for good. I committed a small mistake, but that’s in the past.”
Shaw’s last innings before the ban came at the same ground on May 28, in the Mumbai T20 final. He scored a 55-ball 61, leading North Mumbai Panthers to the title. On Sunday, Shaw initially showed some nerves, mis-timing a couple of shots, but what followed was a delightful display of stroke play, the hallmark of Shaw’s play. He hit some crisp flicks, pulls and lofted shots, dismantling the Assam attack.
Aditya Tare’s (48-ball 82) onslaught in the opening exchanges allowed Shaw to take his time. They stitched a 138-run opening stand before the former was out. But it had laid the platform for Mumbai’s huge total. Siddhesh Lad’s unbeaten 14-ball 32 helped Mumbai post 206/5. The bowlers then restricted Assam to 123/8.
Shaw got a reprieve in the 12th over after lofting left-arm spinner Abhilash Gogoi down the ground, but the catch was spilled and went over the boundary.
He then hit two back-to-back sixes before reaching his halfcentury with a boundary in the next over off seamer Abu Nechim. Shaw said he entered the game with an open mind. “As such there was no plan when I went into bat. I just wanted to put away the balls that were in my area,” he said.
Brief scores: Mumbai 206/5 in 20 overs; Assam 123/8 in 20 overs
DELHI BEAT SIKKIM
SURAT: Leg-spinner Karan Dagar starred with the ball before opener Hiten Dalal scored a blistering half-century as Delhi registered an emphatic nine-wicket win over Sikkim.
Dagar (4/12) and medium pacer Simarjeet Singh (2/17) restricted Sikkim to a paltry 88 for seven in 20 overs before Dalal played an unbeaten innings of 54 off 24 balls to take Delhi home with 11 overs to spare.
The win helped Delhi move to the second spot in Group E with 18 points from seven games, while Jharkhand were atop the standings with 22 points from as seven matches. Opting to bat, Sikkim were off to a disastrous start with Simarjeet dismissing openers Bibek Diyali and Yashpal Singh in the first over itself.
Wicketkeeper Ashish Thapa (17) and skipper Iqbal Abdulla (37), who top-scored, tried to resurrect the innings by stitching a 45-run partnership but Dagar bowled out the captain in the beginning of the 11th over.
Dagar then tore through the middle order, dismissing Plazor Tamang (0), Benoy Upreti (1) and Thapa in the next four overs.
In reply, Delhi reached the target in nine overs. India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who is struggling for form, fell in the sixth over for 19.
Brief Scores: Sikkim 88 for 7 in 20 overs (Iqbal Abdulla 37; Karan Dagar 4/12) lost to Delhi (Hiten Dalal 54 not out; Yashpal Singh 1/16 ) by 9 wickets.