BENGALURU: Between two Ranji Trophy finals, life has turned full circle for Prithvi Shaw, who is still only 22. Five seasons back, shepherded by Chandrakant Pandit - who was then Mumbai coach - the young turk announced his arrival in grand style, smashing a century (120) on his first-class debut in the Ranji Trophy semis against Tamil Nadu in Rajkot, followed by blistering knocks of 44 and 71 in the Ranji final defeat against Gujarat in Indore. It turned out to be Pandit's last match in charge of Mumbai.
Cut to June 22, 2022, and Shaw - eyeing his maiden Ranji title as Mumbai captain - will lead an exciting, young bunch in the final against MP, incidentally coached by Pandit. Since playing in his last Ranji final and his next, the opener has experienced quite a journey. He won the under-19 World Cup as captain, broke into the Indian Test team and scored a century on debut in Rajkot vs West Indies before injury and a form slump saw him out of the squad. In between, he captained Mumbai to the Vijay Hazare one-day title last year.
"It's a proud feeling to lead Mumbai. Five years ago, when I played the final, Chandu sir was the coach. Playing against him will be challenging for us. I hope I can take the Cup back home," he said.
His response, when quizzed on how he felt about catching up with Pandit on the field for the first time since 2017, was hilarious. "After five years, I could make eye contact with 'Chandu' sir. It wasn't like this in 2016-17 when I played. Everyone knows that he's a tough man. It was good to see him after such a long time. He's done well for MP, they've reached the final after so many years."
Even as he has excelled as leader, Shaw hasn't scored as many runs as he'd have liked in the Ranji. While colleagues Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Armaan Jaffer and newcomer Suved Parkar have plundered runs at will, all Shaw has managed is 264 runs in five games.
The Mumbaikar knows fifties won't get him any attention: "I have scored a couple of 50s, but that's not enough for me for sure. No one even congratulated me after scoring a fifty and you feel bad as well!"
For all his talent, Shaw hasn't played for India in Tests since Dec 2020, and in white-ball cricket since July 2021. "It's nowhere near my mind. Getting this cup is my main motive and I'm not thinking of anything other than winning this one. It's about winning the Ranji Trophy," he said.
He's proud of what his batting colleagues - Sarfaraz and Armaan are his schoolmates - have achieved this season. "I, Sarfaraz and Armaan went to the same school (Rizvi Springfield) at the age of nine. We came up together and all three of us are doing pretty good so far for Mumbai. Suved just played a quarterfinal, scored a double century and I think everyone is in good form," he said.
