Moments after a fist pump, followed with a stare to the heavens and raising both his arms to celebrate his hundred on Test debut, Prithvi Shaw acknowledged five gentlemen occupying the front-seat row of the President's Box of the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium on the outskirts of the Kathiyawadi capital.
The expressions on all the five gentlemen's faces were surreal – a mix of ecstasy, emotion, delight and a sense of achievement and fulfilment. After all, the boy who has been a toast of Bhoir Pada, a far-from-affulent locality in Virar, the far-off north-west suburb of the Maximum City, for over a decade had justified his potential at the biggest stage. Prithvi Shaw, the wonder boy, had added another leaf in his book of glorious achievements at a tender age, with a hundred on Test debut against West Indies.
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“We are thrilled, just couldn't have asked for anything better. We came to see him playing for the India for the first time. That he scored a hundred is like icing on the cake,” Mangesh Dhoble, Prithvi's cousin, said soon after the teenager achieved the landmark.
Amit Shenoy and Naresh Pardeshi, both family friends, echoed the sentiments. Ever since the Shaws used to live in Virar, being the son of a single-parent Pankaj, Prithvi is a darling of the neighbourhood. Despite having moved closer to the suburbs – the Shaws now live in an apartment offered by his employer Indian Oil in Santa Cruz – Prithvi still keeps in touch with friends and well-wishers since childhood.
“He is like my younger brother and more importantly best friend,” says Dhoble. “Whenenver we meet, the last thing we discuss is cricket. Instead, he keeps sharing the details of all the new places he has visited in the country and in the world.”
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Dhoble stresses that despite wearing a sincere look, Prithvi is a “notorious” kid who loves “mimicking and playing pranks on his friends”. But more than a prank, what brings smile to Prithvi's face is his most favourite cuisine: chinese food.
“Wherever we dine, whether at a normal eatery or a five-star hotel, he will only order chinese food. And he can eat it at any time of the day, from early morning to late night,” Dhoble says.
Don't be surprised if Prithvi would have enjoyed his favourite cuisine with his favourite folks at the team hotel on Wednesday night after finishing a plethora of interviews and team celebrations.
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