Patna,(BiharTimes): Very few people know that Team India captain Prithvi Shaw originally hails from Bihar and well connected to his roots.
The father of Prithwi, Ashok Gupta who later changed his surname with Shaw after shifting to Mumbai used to run a small cloth shop in Manpur area of Gaya. His father originally hails from Rohtas district of the state and he was initially taken to the UK by Dr Samir Pathak, a surgeon whose family hails too from Bihar.
"Shaw, first came in 2012 when he spent the summer term at Cheadle Hulme School and then again in 2014 when he played a whole season in the Yorkshire league. On both occasions, he was supported by us (Cricket Beyond Boundaries)" Pathak told to BT.
Dr Samir Pathak is an abdominal surgeon in the United Kingdom. He is the former captain of his University side and had also played for the English Universities cricket team in 2004.
Interestingly, Samir’s father Dr Ashok Pathak was a wicket-keeper batsman of Bihar in the 1970s.
Prithvi benefited greatly from his first stint in the UK where he spent four months at the prestigious Cheadle Hulme School in Manchester. Shaw attended classes as well as focussed on his cricketing development. Exposure to a new culture, a different environment and different weather conditions certainly brought his batting skills up a few notches.
Shaw was first spotted by former Indian cricketer Nilesh Kulkarni who saw tremendous potential in the young cricketer and personally funded him. Kulkarni and Dr Pathak then made the requisite arrangements for Shaw to attend school in Manchester.
Since Prithvi’s Manchester stint, several other boys have also been to the UK under the guidance and mentorship of Dr Samir Pathak.
