Indian opener Prithvi Shaw’s magic continued as Mumbai entered the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 against Uttar Pradesh and his Mumbai teammate Shreyas Iyer advised the stand-in captain to continue backing his instincts and play his natural game in the summit clash on Sunday (March 14).
The 21-year-old, who is in tremendous form with the bat in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, is leading Mumbai from the front after Shreyas left the side to join Team India to play in the ongoing T20I series against England after captaining his team in a couple of games in the 50-over domestic tournament.
On Thursday, Shaw hammered a blistering century, 122-ball 165 studded with 17 boundaries and seven sixes to help Mumbai beat Karnataka by 72 runs in the second semifinal to take the side to the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 against Uttar Pradesh in Delhi on Sunday.
Following this magnificent knock, the right-hander became the highest run-scorer in a single edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, beating Mayank Agarwal’s tally of 723 runs in the 2018 edition. Earlier this week, he also broke MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli's record of the highest individual score by an Indian batsman in a List A chase after hitting an unbeaten 185 off 123 balls against Saurashtra.
With 754 runs to his credit at a staggering average of 188.5, the youngster – who was dropped from the Indian team due to his poor form, is now the leading scorer in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021.
Ahead of the final, Shreyas suggested Mumbai not to change anything and continue to play the way they are playing in the tournament while advising Shaw not to take too many suggestions and continue to back his instincts.
Shreyas said after India’s 8-wicket defeat in the first T20I against England in Ahmedabad on Friday, “My message to the Mumbai team that they don't have to change anything and they should play the way they are playing in the tournament.”
He further added, “Obviously, the way Prithvi Shaw is performing he is in good form so he doesn't need to change anything. He has been in great form. His mind is in the perfect space. I have talked to him yesterday and told him that the pitch will be different and you must not listen to anybody and back your instincts. The morale of the side is pretty high at the moment.”
On his knock of 67 off 48 balls to take India to 124/7 after the early downfall, the batsman said: “I am in no sort of pressure, to be honest. I am playing freely, happily and I am enjoying my game. I have been in these types of situations many times in IPL.”
He signed off by saying, “I have batted many times in these situations, so I tend to bat till the end play full 20 overs. And I know that in the middle overs batsmen do get one or two odd boundaries which shifts the momentum. But England bowled really well and they stuck to their plan.”
(With ANI Inputs)
