Prithvi Shaw's focus should be to play for India, not IPL

Prithvi Shaw, Sanjay Jagdale

Prithvi Shaw

Mumbai's new batting star Prithvi Shaw has played just two first-class matches but the 17-year-old is already touted as a future India player by many pundits. Prithvi, who scored a century on debut against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Rajkot recently, revelled stupendously under pressure on the final day.

Sanjay Jagdale

Former Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association president Sanjay Jagdale advised Prithvi that his focus now should be on playing for the country first rather than the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).

Also Read: No Prithvi Shaw in Rest of India team

"His biggest challenge will be how much importance he gives to the IPL. There's nothing wrong if he gets to play there, but I feel many youngsters prefer to play in the IPL rather than playing for the country because IPL has a lot of money. You can play in the IPL but you can't give it priority. Playing for the country should be first. If you put the IPL first, then it can kill any player. It has killed a lot of young cricketers," Jagdale, who witnessed Prithiv batting here during the Ranji final, told mid-day recently.

Jagdale, also a former national selector, wants Prithvi to follow the footsteps of former India skipper Rahul Dravid among other great cricketers. "Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara put playing for the country first on priority list. Ultimately, IPL is a domestic tournament. You get good exposure as you get the opportunity to play with top players, but once your focus shifts to money then it becomes difficult to maintain a balance," he said.