Touted as the next best thing in Indian cricket, Prithvi Shaw has fallen behind in the race of openers. When the squad for West Indies Test series was selected, Shaw was nowhere near in reckoning as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are being looked at as replacements in the top order. In the Duleep Trophy semi-final, West Zone opener Shaw had a chance to prove himself. He got off to good starts but could not capitalise and lost the opportunity to put on a big score.
On the other hand, Cheteshwar Pujara scored a century in the second innings right after getting dropped from the Test squad. While the match ended in a draw, West Zone advanced to the final on the basis of first innings lead. After the match, Shaw said that he does not want to make changes in his style of batting.
"Personally, I feel I don't have to change my game, but a little smarter than what I am. I can't bat like Pujara sir bats or Pujara sir can't bat like me.
"So, what I am trying to do are those things that have brought me here till, for example, the aggressive batting, I don't like to change that," Shaw told the reporters.
Shaw is looking at every game as an opportunity to make a comeback.
"I think whichever game for me right now is as important as anything. Even if I'm playing Duleep Trophy or my Mumbai game, I feel it's very important for me to bring out my best," said the 23-year-old.
Shaw pointed out that the conditions were not easy for the batters and it led to his scores of 25 and 26 in first and second innings respectively.
"It's not that you can always be perfect but I try to work harder after these kinds of things happen (not getting runs). T20 is a bit more slashing, but a similar mindset. Not the similar way as in T20 with me when I am playing red ball cricket as well.
"What I should try is to play with bowlers, distract them, and force them to give the ball that you want and not the ball that they want to bowl," the Mumbai opener said.
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