Prithvi Shaw on Tuesday said that it felt nice and special to score a century in his debut match for Maharashtra.
“Obviously, special, because I’m playing my first game for Maharashtra. I haven’t played a three-day or four-day game for a long time. Chennai is quite hot, but it feels really nice to be on that wicket and trying to score some runs,” he said after the second day’s play against Chhattisgarh in Group-A of the All India Buchi Babu Invitational Cricket Tournament at the Guru Nanak College here.
The out-of-favour India batter was dropped from the Mumbai Ranji Trophy squad over indiscipline and poor fitness before he went unsold in the IPL auction last year. Asked how hard it is going to be for him to stage a comeback to the Indian team, he said: “I don’t mind coming from scratch again, because I’ve seen many ups and downs in my life. I’ve been up there, I’ve been down there, and I came back up there. So, I feel everything is possible.
“I’m kind of a very confident guy – confident in myself and my work ethic. I hope that this season will go really well for me as well as for my team.”
Talking about the changes he’s adopted, he said: “I feel I just went back to basics, doing things that I used to do in the under-19 days, which got me to the Indian team. Just doing all the stuff back again – practising more, gymming, and running.
“Just trying to be myself and not really trying to be on social media or anything like that. I don’t like those kinds of distractions. Nowadays, social media and all those stuff, it’s quite bad, I would say. So, I’m not really on social media. It’s peaceful when I’m not using it. I think the lesson (from his tough times) is that I have never lost. It’s always about learning for me.
“Earlier, it was that I was trying to think too far ahead. I don’t think it worked for me. So, what I’m now trying to do is go day-by-day. I have a schedule or a plan that I focus on day-by-day. I don’t want to see what happens after a month or two days. I try to be in present. I’m that kind of a person right now.”
The 25-year-old mentioned that no one from cricket directly contacted him or messaged him during his tough times. “I don’t want anyone’s sympathy. It’s okay. I mean, I’ve seen this before as well. I’ve got my family’s support. And I was in that zone where I was doing everything alone. It was really good for me. It was working for me,” he said.
On the people he’s worked with for his game or his mindset, he said: “When it comes to the mental aspect, I feel the best person for me is my dad. He knows me better than anyone else in this world. And obviously, my coach Prashant Shetty. So, I’ve been working with him, my trainers, and my dietitians. So, there’s a lot of support behind me, and I don’t want to make them feel that I’m not trying hard enough.”
Shaw said that his fitness training and dieting over the past two to three months, have changed him “both physically and mentally” and that “it can be seen on the field.”
