I was playing with more patience: Prithvi Shaw on scoring 240 in Ranji Trophy

Mumbai opener Prithvi Shaw managed just a solitary halfcentury in a total of 160 runs across seven firstclass innings this season However on Tuesday he came up with a careerbest unbeaten 240 against Assam on Day One of their Elite Group lsquoBrsquo Ranji Trophy game in GuwahatiSkipper Ajinkya Rahane 73 not out was giving Shaw company when Mumbai ended the opening day with an impressive 3972 Surprisingly host captain Gokul Sharma asked Mumbai to bat on the Amingaon Cricket Ground pitch and the visitors capitalised on the opportunity Shaw and young Musheer Khan 42 stitched 123 runs for the opening wicket Onedrop Armaan Jaffer 27 was run out but Shaw and Rahane frustrated Assam with an unbeaten 200run stand for the third wicketlsquoPlayed with more patiencersquoShaw 23 revealed how he got his rhythm back and managed to convert a good start into a big one to score his 12th firstclass hundred ldquoI was playing with more patience today Tuesday I was trying to play mostly in the V between midon and midoff waiting for loose balls to play my shots I was not thinking about scoring big because I hardly had any big scores recently I was totally blank when I occupied the crease in the morningrdquo Shaw told midday from Guwahati on Tuesday Prior to Tuesdayrsquos knock Shawrsquos run of scores over the last seven innings read 13 6 19 4 68 35 and 15 The low scores caused him to introspect ldquoI was batting well in the last few games but I visualised what had happened I was maintaining a diary and writing down my mistakesmdashwhere I was missing whether it was a process which I was not able to complete in the right way how many hours I was sleeping before the match whether I was doing my running and strength conditioning properlyA sense of reliefldquoI knew that if I follow the process correctly I will get good results I knew I could bounce back at any time I believed I could do it I back myself by believing in my abilities which helped me score bigrdquo remarked Shaw When asked whether this knock gave him a sense of relief he said ldquoYes when you score a double hundred obviously you get a certain kind of relief But I donrsquot want to stop here It wonrsquot be the case of taking it easy My approach will be the same whenever I bat I am still hungry for a another big knockrdquoGood support from skipperThe attacking batsman who smashed 33 fours and a six during his 283ball stay at the crease also credited Rahane for Mumbairsquos imposing score ldquoWe were enjoying ourselves in the middle We had good conversations and if any of us made a mistake or felt lazy we spoke with each other We were playing like we were playing a Test not thinking too much and trying to playon the merit of the ballrdquoAlso Read Gautam Gambhir picks Prithvi Shaw as future India captainAccording to Shaw Mumbai are aiming to bat only once in the gamemdashbuild a big total and then get the opponents out twice Doubtless hersquoll take fresh guard today ldquoThe ball was keeping low so I avoided playing the sweep cut and pull shots initially When I reached 100 I was blank and I was the same when I got the double hundred Tomorrow Wednesday too I will not think too much I will start from zerordquo he signed offBrief scoresMumbai 3972 P Shaw 240 A Rahane 73 M Khan 42 M Hussain 179 v Assam