“Prithvi Shaw Is Far Away From Being Compared To Virender Sehwag And Viv Richards” – Salman Butt

The young Prithvi Shaw has been the talk of the town for his recent performance in world cricket. The 21-year-old has been earning praises from cricket fans and experts from all over the world. Even during his teenage stage, Shaw was a hot topic of discussion in cricket for his sensational performance. Notably, Shaw has won the Under-19 World Cup as a captain. However, Prithvi Shaw’s international run has been a roller coaster ride so far.

It’s a fact that Prithvi Shaw has exceptional talent however his consistency and batting technique has always been a problem for the youngster. For a similar reason, 21-year-old was dropped from the national Test side after a poor batting display in Adelaide Test against Australia.

However, the U-19 World Cup-winning captain made a strong comeback and got his place in limited-overs cricket. Prithvi Shaw looked sensational in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. However he failed to score big runs for the team, 49 being his highest score in the series.

Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt discussed about Prithvi and his comparison with Virender Sehwag and Viv Richards. Also, Butt stated that Shaw needs to maintain consistency to be at the same level as the legendary cricketers.

Well played @PrithviShaw 👌✅ Chotta pataka bada dhmaka

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 18, 2021

“Some fans feel it is wrong to ask Prithvi Shaw to alter his game. They point out to Virender Sehwag and Viv Richards, who succeeded by playing their own brand of cricket. When you start producing results, you can stake a claim to a particular style of play being yours. You have to score big runs and hundreds to justify a different kind of mindset while batting,” Butt said on his Youtube channel.

“Look at the gap between Richards and Sehwag’s careers. It took nearly 10-15 years after Richards for the cricket world to see a player with a similar attacking mindset in Sehwag. Richards scored 180 in England at a time when 225 was considered a good ODI total. Sehwag scored two triple hundreds in Test cricket and averaged over 50 for most of his career. Just by playing like them, one cannot become a Sehwag or a Richards. You have to put up that kind of performance.”

Salman Butt further added that Shaw hits many boundaries early in the innings and gets dismissed. Butt said Prithvi Shaw plays too many shots very early and suggested Shaw convert good starts into big scores. Notably, Prithvi Shaw scored 40+ twice in the Sri Lanka series but failed to convert a good start into a century or half-century.

“He (Prithvi Shaw) has all the strokes in his repertoire – Salman Butt

“To give himself stability, a youngster has to convert starts. Talking of Prithvi Shaw, I saw him playing one-dayers for India in New Zealand as well. He used to hit three-four cracking boundaries and then get out. So, when something is not letting you continue and stopping you from making a big score, you need to modify it. You first need to score runs and then shape up in your own style,” Butt continued to say.

“He has all the strokes in his repertoire, but Prithvi Shaw is playing too many shots too early. He needs to take into consideration factors like time, pace, wicket, and opposition and manage his innings accordingly. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar paced his innings as per the situation,” Butt added.