After Sachin Tendulkar, Prithvi Shaw least experienced Indian to make Test debut

Aged just 18 years and 328 days, Prithvi Shaw is all set to become the youngest Test debutant for India since Ishant Sharma in 2007, when he takes the field against West Indies in the first Test at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot on Thursday – the same venue he had made his First-Class debut for Mumbai.

It was in January 2017 that Shaw walked out for his maiden FC game against Tamil Nadu. He got out for 4 in the first innings, but made up for the early exit with a 120 in the second innings in Mumbai’s six-wicket win, to announce himself at the domestic circuit.

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And just 14 First-Class matches later, Shaw is set for the big stage. Only the great Sachin Tendulkar played fewer First Class matches India before making his India Test debut, in 1989 vs Pakistan at Karachi.

Prithvi Shaw (14 FC matches) is the least experienced “Batsman” to make Test debut for India since Sachin Tendulkar (9 FC matches). #INDvWI

— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) October 3, 2018

David Warner of Australia had played his maiden Test in 2009 without playing a single FC game and had made 83 off 49 deliveries. In all, 36 players have made their Test debuts, which was also their maiden First-Class game.

Young @PrithviShaw is all set to make his Test debut tomorrow at Rajkot. How well does he time the ball? #TeamIndia #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/5LLvl7GKkQ

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 3, 2018

Shaw has had an eventful India A tour of England in 2018 scoring 603 runs in 10 innings. A teenage prodigy, he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai in the semi-final of the 2016-17 season as a 16-year-old, scoring a century. In 14 first-class matches since then, Shaw has scored 1,418 runs, including seven centuries and five fifties.

In List A, Shaw has 938 runs in 22 matches at an average of 42.63. In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018-19 Shaw has notched up scores of 98, 60, 129. Playing for Board President’s XI against West Indies he managed 8.

Tendulkar continues to be India’s youngest Test debutant at 16 years and 205 days, followed by Piyush Chawla (17y 75d and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (17y 118d).

Shaw, at 18 years and 329 days on October 3, will become India’s 13th youngest Test debutant.