How UK made Prithvi more than OK in English

There have been many who played an important role in the grooming of 17-year-old Mumbai batsman Prithvi Shaw, who slammed a hundred on his Ranji Trophy debut against Tamil Nadu at Rajkot on Thursday

Prithvi Shaw (left) is greeted by his father Pankaj at Mumbai airport after arriving from Rajkot on Thursday night. Pic/Bipin Kokate 

There have been many who played an important role in the grooming of 17-year-old Mumbai batsman Prithvi Shaw, who slammed a hundred on his Ranji Trophy debut against Tamil Nadu at Rajkot on Thursday. One such person is former India spinner Nilesh Kulkarni whose sports management firm facilitated Shaw's trips to England. In 2010 and 2012 when the young gun attended the summer semester at Cheadle Hulme School in Manchester where he played against teams like Bramhall and Lancashire. Shaw scored 1446 runs and bagged 68 wickets with his off-spin in 2012.

Nilesh Kulkarni

Recalling Prithvi's Manchester stint, Kulkarni says, "The idea of sending him to UK was not only restricted to cricket. He lived with an English family there and that gave him a different perspective of life. There was an overall development in him including managing to speak English fluently. This is something that I am proud of. His hunger for cricket was evident when he was just 11 and I am confident will play a long innings in Indian cricket."

Kulkarni also hopes Prithvi remains grounded and his hunger for cricket continues. "He has got a foot in the door by scoring an impact century. Now, he needs to continue and become a pillar of the Mumbai side. He should go on to play for the country," said Kulkarni. Prithvi, it can be recalled, told the media on his arrival from UK, "When I landed there, I was a Hindi-speaking tapori kid. But in two months, my whole personality changed."

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