Start comparing Prithvi Shaw with Sehwag and Richards once he starts producing results: Salman Butt

Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt has said that it is unfair to compare Prithvi Shaw with legends like Viv Richards and Virender Sehwag so early in his career. Butt added that playing an aggressive brand of cricket is not enough for a player to draw comparisons with the legendary swashbuckling duo.

Prithvi Shaw’s belligerent style of batting has divided opinion. The young opener scored two 40s in the ODI series in Sri Lanka but failed to carry on. According to experts, Shaw must be allowed to play his natural game, while others feel the young opener needs to put a bigger price tag on his wicket.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt opined that Prithvi Shaw needs to justify his hard-hitting style of play with big scores. He said:

“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.”

Pointing out that players like Richards and Sehwag are of a rare breed, But added:

“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 a performance.”

Prithvi Shaw (43 off 24 balls, Strike Rate 179.17) tonight showed what he has been doing in domestic cricket in the recent years. Insane numbers!!! #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/kitiUvg26r

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 18, 2021

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Prithvi Shaw is playing too many shots too early: Salman Butt

According to Butt, although Shaw has all the strokes in the book, he needs to work on his game to produce better results. The former Pakistan opener gave the example of Prithvi Shaw’s performance in New Zealand, when he kept getting out in the ODIs after getting starts. Butt explained:

“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:

“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.

In six ODIs for India, the 21-year-old Shaw has a strike rate of 113.85 in one-dayers and a best score of 49.