Prithvi Shaw. (TOI Photo)

MUMBAI: 2018 continues to be an eventful year for Prithvi Shaw . It began with the 18-year-old leading the India Under-19 team to the World Cup triumph in New Zealand in January. In the summer, he played for Ricky Ponting's Delhi Daredevils, in what was his maiden stint in the IPL. A series of consistent performances for India 'A' followed, and on Wednesday, he received his maiden India call-up when he was picked for the last two Tests of the ongoing series against England.

Many felt the prodigiously talented teenaged batsman from Mumbai, who's made rapid strides in the last couple of years after making headlines by slamming a world record score of 546 in inter-school cricket in 2013, should be fasttracked into the Indian team. It's evident now that the national selectors too were thinking along similar lines. Shaw's selection may also have a strong Mumbai connection - current India coach Ravi Shastri has been keenly following the young batsman's progress since his early years - and is likely to have supported this rather bold move.

In a press conference before India had left for South Africa in January this year, India skipper Virat Kohli had said: "I'm excited about Prithvi. I have heard a lot about him, and Ravi bhai has also told me many things about him.

To Shaw's luck, it must've helped him that his progression, and mentoring at the India U-19 and then in the India 'A' team has been overseen by batting legend Rahul Dravid , who's the coach of both the teams. Despite the football World Cup at that time, his exploits in England with the India 'A' team caught the eye - a duck against West Indies 'A' in the first 'Test' was followed by a stroke-filled 169-ball 188. This was followed by 62 & 0 against England 'A'. Earlier this month, he slammed 136 against England 'A', adding 277 for the first wicket with Mayank Agarwal .

"I'm not surprised by his inclusion because he's been in very good form with the India A team - he scored a lot of runs in England just a few days ago. It's a good thing that he's got the opportunity at the right time, and I hope he scores big runs in international cricket," former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar told TOI. In January last year, Vengsarkar, and the Milind Rege-led Mumbai selection committee had then showed faith in giving the then 17-yearold opener a break in First-Class cricket in the Ranji semis against Tamil Nadu. Shaw slammed a match-winning 120 and never looked back.

"We spotted him early at Air-India, and gave him scholarship for three years. It was a challenging situation for me to pick him for Delhi Daredevils because he never played T20 cricket, but I was very confident about his abilities. I'm glad that the first IPL stint gave him a lot of confidence," said former India batsman Pravin Amre, who's currently the assistant coach at DD. "I had told him then that his goal should be Test cricket ," Amre concluded.

