A lifetime of memories: Shaw

Auckland: He understands the enormity of his side's achievement but a reticent skipper Prithvi Shaw found it hard to express his emotions after India won their fourth Under-19 World Cup.

At 18, like all teenagers, he was not expected to give loaded answers and underlined that it was ‘fun’ which united this bunch of cricketers. "There a lot of memories created. I can't express, what I am feeling right now. I am just happy," was all he said when asked to pick a few memories having played his last match at this level in a befitting manner.

"It feels really good. Winning this World Cup, it means a lot to us, making India proud. We are enjoying ourselves whether we were batting or bowling," he said.

Asked what he was going through having achieved the target of winning the World Cup, Shaw said: "There were not many emotions. It was mazzak and masti (fun and frolic). We were waiting for this tournament. We have played together for 1-2 years. As a captain, I have been backed. Whenever I was under pressure, the team backed me (rallied around me)."

Shaw also expressed surprise that so many Indian fans gathered to support the team from the beginning of the tournament. “They all came to watch us. They supported us from the first ball. We got so much of love, we did not expect so many fans. And because of them, we were always fired up."

Asked what did he convey to his team-mates after the Australian innings ended and they went into a rare huddle? Shaw said, he did not want his side to be complacent. "It was not that big a score. I did not want boys to be casual, it was big thing, it is a World Cup final. We needed to be calm and have partnerships. Those little things helped."

Shaw, who already has five first
class hundreds to his name, said playing in New Zealand was a good learning curve."It was a good experience, we learnt a lot in these weather conditions. Rahul sir has visited here a lot and he told us how to play, also Paras sir. It was a team work," he signed off.