Former Indian skipper and former national selector Dilip Vengsarkar has showered rich praise on the talented Prithvi Shaw after the Mumbai batsman recently cracked 3rd fastest double hundred in history of Ranji Trophy on Wednesday (December 11).

The 20-year-old has returned to action with a bang, hitting his maiden double hundred to guide Mumbai to a massive win of 309 runs in their Ranji Trophy match against Baroda.

In the first match of the 2019-20 Ranji season, the right-hander hit 30 fours and 8 sixes in his knocks of 66 and 202 runs for Mumbai in both innings against Baroda.

Read Also: Prithvi Shaw slams double ton in his comeback First-Class match against Baroda

Shaw also hammered three half-centuries in the five Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy matches on his comeback after serving an eight-month suspension for a failed dope test and Vengsarkar was delighted to see him back in his phenomenal form with the bat.

Former cricketer further went on to compare Shaw with batting legend Virender Sehwag in terms of shot selection while criticising the eight-month suspension as he might have not known the difference between a cough syrup and a banned substance.

Vengsarkar told Gulf News: “Shaw is an outstanding cricketer and there is no question about his abilities. It was a big jolt he had to face because he had a cough syrup which contained a banned substance. Now he is more mature and will be wiser too. He is playing extremely well. The amount of shots he has in repertoire is amazing. He reminds me of (Virender) Sehwag for the number of shots he plays and he can clear the ground at will.”

Former selector continued, “He will be a matured player from now on. He was the captain of the Indian team that lifted the under-19 World Cup. Only thing he needs to improve is his fitness and fielding. He needs to look into that department seriously because fielding is very important and he need to work hard on his fitness. Shaw hadn’t wasted his time during the ban.”

Vengsarkar, who had watched the rise of Shaw over the years, signed off by saying, “He went to England and trained there too. He was in the game all the time and now he is back with a bang. He is determined now. He has a lot of shots and that he plays them with disdain. I hope he comes back into the Indian squad because he is young, and now more passionate and determined. This is a good sign for him and Indian cricket as well.”

(With Gulf News Inputs)