Keep your focus: Prithvi Shaw shares his father’s message after getting selected for the IND T20I team vs NZ
Swashbuckling batter Prithvi Shaw in a recent conversation in BCCI.tv opened up about his feelings after being recalled in the Team India squad for the T20I series against New Zealand.
“It has been long that I wasn’t a part of this team but I am happy to be back and everyone, my dad, they were happy as well. I really worked hard for the call up so really happy. The team was announced late at night, I think around 10.30 pm. When I got to know, I was sleeping and my phone was on silent. I got up to go to the washroom and I saw my phone and there were lots of calls and messages. My phone was getting hanged. I was like, what happened. Then I saw that I got selected for the T20s,” he said, sharing his experience on how he felt when he got the call up.
“There was no celebration because I was playing in Assam at that time but he (dad) was pretty happy. He said that keep your focus now that you are back in the team. Make sure if you get the chance, you score the runs and make the team win,” he said talking about his father’s message to him after the selection.
From emotions on #TeamIndia comeback & the support system to reuniting with former U-19 teammates and Head Coach Rahul Dravid 👍 👍
as @PrithviShaw discusses all this & more 👌 👌 – @ameyatilak
Full interview 🎥 🔽 #INDvNZhttps://t.co/ZPZWMbxlAC pic.twitter.com/IzVUd9tT6X
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 27, 2023
“There were ups and down sin these few year. And you learn something everyday. I just worked hard on it and tried to be cool as possible. I worked on myself and focussed on getting my routine right. People say if the process is good, then you can play badly in 2-3 matches but you’ll eventually get a chance to score big runs,” he said.
On his learnings throughout the tough phase when he was not getting selected for national duty, he said, “I played 5 Test matches and then I was off for a while and I had some technique issues. First, I didn’t use to bat that much. I used to bat around 40-45 mins. After that, I started batting however much I could like a couple of hours with my coach in Mumbai for getting my technique right. I like to stay in the present so I won’t really think much ahead. If you talk about this series, I want India to win. That’s the first thing in my mind definitely when I play for India. Secondly, whenever I get the chance I’ll give my 100%.”
Talking about his record breaking triple ton in the Ranji Trophy, he said, “I was really happy after the record. I just played my game and I didn’t do anything special that day. I just had the belief that I can keep this thing going. After 100, after 200, I didn’t give up. I was like that you have to push. I was still disappointed as I need 20-25 more runs to get 400.”