Don't put pressure of scoring hundreds on Prithvi Shaw: Sanjay Manjrekar

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Prithvi Shaw is burdened with pressure like other Indian cricketers and wants him to just live in the moment and enjoy his game. The young Mumbai batter announced his comeback into the Indian team by scoring 43 runs from 24 balls in the first ODI against Sri Lanka. 

According to the former Indian cricketer, the pressure of not going on to score a hundred should not be put on the young batsman. He also remarked that in India, players go through this pressure of scoring a hundred every time they get a start as that sort of pressure is transferred by the fans. Manjrekar said that Shaw’s contribution put India in a position from where they wouldn’t have lost the match even if they tried. 

“I hope we don’t, typically like we do in India, put pressure on a young player, saying he has got to get a hundred,” Manjrekar told Sony Sports. “That 40-plus he got today put India in a winning position after that; India wasn’t going to lose even if they tried,” he further noted. When Shaw got out, India’s score was 58 for 1 in 5.3 overs. The required rate which was around 5.4 at the start of the innings had by then gone way lower than 5. 

Eventually, he will start getting the big scores: Sanjay Manjrekar

“I am happy with him getting 40s and 50s at the strike rate, provided there is enough batting after that. And it seemed like he wasn’t looking to play that way, but it was just happening. Ishan Kishan played a little differently, bordering on being frenetic,” Manjrekar said. The former Indian batter felt that it is better to focus on winning matches than scoring big hundreds. He expressed that the pressure of scoring hundreds should not be put on the youngster now. 

“Eventually, he will start getting the big scores, but I don’t think the pressure should be put on him straight away that he has got to convert his starts into hundreds. Getting a hundred in ODI cricket, if you’re a good player batting at the top, you get hundreds. But winning is important,” Manjrekar said. 

The innings of Shaw gave India a flying start. After he was dismissed the flow of the innings didn’t change much as Ishan Kishan, who was making his debut, capitalized on the pressure created by Shaw and scored some quick runs. Kishan’s 42-ball 59 along with contributions from Shikhar Dhawan (86 not out from 95 balls), Manish Pandey (26 runs from 40 balls), and Suryakumar Yadav (31 runs from 20 balls), helped India chase down the total with 13.2 overs to spare.