Prithvi Shaw made it a debut to remember with the young opener slamming an aggressive ton in the opening Test between India and the West Indies at Rajkot on Thursday.
The 18-year-old was handed his maiden Test cap by Virat Kohli himself and was thrust straight into the limelight on day one after the India skipper won the toss and elected to bat first.
Despite India losing KL Rahul for a duck in the very first over of the day, Shaw was not afraid to play his strokes early on as he started his maiden Test innings in confident fashion.
The Mumbai teenager was aggressive from the word go and did not hesitate to attack any loose ball bowled by the West Indies bowlers.
The right-hander struck three boundaries off Keemo Paul in the fourth over of the day to gain momentum and never looked back as he brought up his half-century off just 56 deliveries with the help of seven boundaries.
WHAT A DEBUT 👏
— ICC (@ICC) October 4, 2018
Prithvi Shaw brings up his maiden Test 💯. At 18 years 329 days, he has now become the youngest Indian to score a century on debut! 🔥
➡️ https://t.co/SreOH45VXi pic.twitter.com/7r8UFsPD5A
💯👏🙌
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 4, 2018
Take a bow, @PrithviShaw #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/3ttCamlAcl
He was even more rapid after notching up his fifty and needed only 43 balls more to bring up his fine century on his Test debut. The opener’s 99-ball century makes him the youngest Indian to score a ton on Test debut and the second youngest Indian overall after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
It has been a stellar year for the youngster who led India to the ICC U19 World Cup title in New Zealand at the start of the year. Following his World Cup showing, Shaw was handed a maiden IPL contract with the Delhi Daredevils for whom he impressed despite getting limited game time.
He was handed a maiden Test call-up to the India Test squad in England this summer but failed to find a spot in the playing XI for the final Test.
Shaw is now the 15th Indian batsman to have registered a ton on his Test debut and the first since Rohit Sharma who achieved the feat in 2013 against the same opposition at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
