A century on debut: 4 Indian legends Prithvi Shaw would look to emulate

Prithvi Shaw is on the brink of creating history if he scores a hundred in the second Test at Hyderabad against the West Indies. He will become the youngest player in the World to score two hundred in his first two Test matches.

Before Prithvi Shaw, 14 Indian players have scored hundreds on debut. Out of these 14, for 8 players it was their first and last hundred. Again, none of these 8 players crossed the individual landmark of representing India in 25 Test matches.

Two players from the current generation, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have scored more centuries after their debut hundreds. They are the two exceptional white ball cricketers who don’t find a place in the present Indian Test team. But their Test career is not over yet by any stretch of the imagination.

That leaves with 4 players whom Prithvi Shaw could emulate. And those four happened to be the legends of Indian cricket. Again those four are different personalities. Prithvi Shaw should strive to master each of their unique qualities. Aggressive leadership qualities from one, Aggressive batting from another, artistic batting from one and courteous manners from another.

Apart from emulating their fabulous cricket skills, Prithvi shaw should look up to these four gentlemen for their distinctive qualities both as a cricketer and as a person.

Here is a list of those 4 Indian legends.

#1 Sourav Ganguly

The Dada who changed the face of Indian Cricket

Tests – 113 – Innings-188- Runs – 7212- Avg-42- 100s-16- 200s -1 -50s-35

Sourav Ganguly scored centuries in his first 2 Tests at Lord’s and Trent Bridge. Apart from scoring so many runs in Test cricket, Ganguly went on to become one of the greatest batsmen in one day cricket where he scored more than 11,000 runs. Together with Sachin, Ganguly formed one of the best opening partnership in one-day matches. His off-side play was a treat to watch which prompted the popular commentator Geoff Boycott to describe him as “ God of offside” and “Prince of Kolkata”

Ganguly is the “Dada” of Indian cricket who will be best remembered for his aggressive leadership qualities. He has changed the face of Indian cricket and cultivated the pattern of fight unto death among the players. The opposition players all had a love-hate relationship with Ganguly. They either loved him or hated him, but couldn’t ignore him. Of course, no one could ignore Ganguly’s talent as a batsman and his inspirational leadership.

The sledging Australians were given a taste of their own medicine. Ganguly had the audacity to make the Australian captain Steve Waugh to wait for the toss. He had the courage to fight fire with fire. He will forever be remembered for his jersey waving act at the Lord’s balcony.

Ganguly’s arrival brought about rare overseas Test wins for India. Under Ganguly, India reached the final of World Cup 2003.

Players like Virender Sehwag, V.V.S Laxman, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, and Harbhajan Singh have all flourished under him. Ganguly had the vision to promote Sehwag at the top of the order which changed his career upside down.

Prithvi Shaw was the captain of the Indian under 19 team which won the 50 over World Cup last year. He could be a captaincy material in future and who better than Sourav Ganguly to look up to.

#2 Virender Sehwag

Sehwag - The Master Blaster

Tests – 104- Innings-180- Runs -8586 Avg – 49- 100s-17- 200s- 4, 300s -2, 50s- 32

Virender Sehwag scored his debut hundred against South Africa in 2001. He came in as a middle-order batsman and shared a 220-run partnership with his idol Sachin Tendulkar for the 5th wicket.

Sehwag first came into the one day team as a middle-order batsman who could bowl a little bit of off-spin. He simultaneously made his Test debut as a middle-order batsman and scored a hundred on debut against South Africa in South Africa.

It was Ganguly who changed Sehwag’s career by promoting him as an opener in his 15th one day international at Colombo against New Zealand in 2001. Before that, in the 14 one day matches, Sehwag has scored just 169 runs. Then came the 15th one-day innings when he smashed a hundred off just 70 balls. That was the turning point of Sehwag’s career.

That one day hundred prompted Ganguly to promote Sehwag to the top of the order in Test matches too. To Sehwag’s credit, he readily accepted the challenge and went on to become one of the best Test opening batsmen India has ever produced. In Test matches, only the legendary Sunil Gavaskar is ahead of him. A remarkable achievement by a player who started his career as a middle-order batsman.

More than the number of runs scored, it was the ease in which Sehwag scored all those runs was the highlight of his batting. Sehwag has a superb hand-eye coordination and his motto was quite simple-see the ball, hit the ball. Sehwag possessed an uncluttered mind and even if he was badly beaten the previous ball, he would simply forget it and try to hit the next ball into orbit. In a number of innings that Sehwag has played, the spectators and the commentators were left wondering whether they were watching the live action or a fast forward highlight.

Sehwag’s unique records

# First and only Indian to score a triple hundred in Test Cricket.

# Only the fourth player to score 2 triple hundreds in Test cricket

# Only player to reach a triple hundred with a six.

# Has scored the fastest triple hundred in Test cricket against South Africa off just 278 balls.

# Sehwag scored 219 in his first one day international as captain.

Sehwag’s biggest achievement was that he has created the fear of God in the minds of bowlers. He was a match winner who could take the game away from the opposition in the blink of an eye. Sehwag is a true legend of Indian cricket.

Prithvi Shaw, like the great Sehwag, is an opening batsman. From the look of things, Shaw seems to be an aggressive batsman like Sehwag. It would be a great achievement if Prithvi Shaw would be able to match half of Sehwag’s striking abilities. Big shoes to fill in but the best master to pursue.

#3 Mohammad Azharuddin

Azharuddin - The artistic genius

Tests – 99 - Innings – 147 -Runs – 6215 - Avg – 45 -100s -22 -50s- 21

Mohammad Azharuddin is the only cricketer in the World who has scored 3 hundreds in his first three Test matches. Now Prithvi Shaw has a chance to have a go at this unique record. Azharuddin’s all three hundreds came against England in the 1984 series at Calcutta, Chennai, and Kanpur. Azhar has the rare distinction of scoring a hundred in his first and last Test match. Azhar has also scored more than 9000 runs in one day cricket. Like the great Gundappa Viswanath before him and VVS Laxman after him, Azhar was an artist at the crease with his wristy flicks.

Apart from being a successful batsman and a terrific fielder, Azhar was a successful captain too. He has captained India in 47 Test matches and won 14 of them. It was under Azhar that players like Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Javagal Srinath blossomed.

Prithvi Shaw should look to emulate Azhar's artistic skills in batting.

#4 Gundappa Viswanath

G.R. Viswanath - The Gentleman of Cricket

Tests – 91 Innings – 155- Runs – 6080 Avg – 42 – 100s -13 – 200s -1 – 50s- 35

G.R. Viswanath’s debut hundred was different in the sense that among the 15 Indian players, his hundred came in the second innings of the Kanpur Test against Australia in 1969. G.R. Viswanath’s Test career started disastrously when he got out for a duck in the first innings.

When he came out to bat in the second innings, India were battling to save the Test match. Viswanath scored a magnificent 137 and saved the Test match for India. That was the beginning of a distinguished career.

‘Vishy” was the artistic, elegant and enterprising Indian batsman of his era. His square cuts were legendary. Vishy was always a man to depend on in an hour of crisis. India did not lose a single Test match on the 14 occasions when he scored a hundred.

Vishy’s best innings came against the West Indies at Chennai in 1974. India batted first in this match on a surprisingly fast bouncy track. They were up against Roberts, Julien, Boyce, and Holder. India were reduced to 41 for 4. Vishwanath came to India’s rescue with an unbeaten 97 with 14 fours. The next highest score of the innings was 19. That day Viswanath made batting look easy on a difficult pitch where the other batsmen struggled to survive. Vishy was always at his best when batting against fast bowlers under pressure. It was one of the best innings ever played by an Indian batsman against the most feared bowling attack without wearing a helmet.

Viswanath contributed 46 in the second innings and India won the match by 100 runs.

G.R. Viswanath will always be remembered for his sportsmanship in calling back Bob Taylor in the Golden Jubilee Test in Mumbai in 1979. Taylor was wrongly given out by the umpire when the match was hanging in the balance. But Viswanath knew Taylor was not out and he called back the batsman to the crease. Taylor went on to add a record sixth-wicket stand of 171 with Ian Botham which titled the match in England’s favour. But Viswanath had no regrets.

Viswanath’s sporting gesture was one of the best you would ever see in a cricket field. Vishy was always a walker when he nicked one.

Prithvi Shaw should strive to emulate G.R. Viswanath’s courteous manners in a cricket field.

To sum up, being in the elite 15 club, Prithvi Shaw has a rich tradition of varying history to embrace.