18-year-old Prithvi Shaw has stunned everyone with his blistering batting against West Indies. It was the Indian opener's first Test series and he made sure it wasn't felt to others. Shaw went on to become the highest run-getter of the 2-match Test series. In three innings Prithvi batted, he scored 237 runs with an average of 118.50 which brought him the Man of the Series award.
Astonished with Shaw's talent, Indian head coach Ravi Shastri went on to compare him with three Test greats, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Brian Lara.
Among the batsman who scored 100 or more runs, Shaw's strike rate of 94.04 is highest among them all.
“He (Shaw) is born to play cricket. He’s been playing since the age of eight in the maidans of Mumbai. You can see all that hard work showing. He’s a spectator’s delight. There’s a bit of Sachin there, a bit of Viru in him and when he walks – there’s a bit of Lara as well,” Shastri said. “If he can keep his head on his shoulders and keep the work ethic, he has a bright future.”
Umesh Yadav turned out to be the highest wicket-taker of the series. After a silent first Test, he returned with match figures of 10/133 in the second Test.
Shastri praised Yadav for his effort and said, “It can be a frustrating profession when you sit on the bench like Umesh for 4 Tests. Only 11 can play. He got his opportunity here and I’m very happy for him. It’s been done only four times (ten-for for a pacer in India). What this will do is make him believe that he belongs. He can say now that he wants his place. That’s given us a headache. He was on target."
Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been in fine touch recently. The way Pant batted in the second Test, Shastri is happy the southpaw made the opportunity count.
Ravi also backed the out of touch KL Rahul to make a comeback with the bat. “I think (Rahul) will be fine. He’s a world-class player. Sometimes he tries too hard. He works really hard on his game. Pant is another name. He got his opportunity, he grabbed it, now he has consolidated it."
On India's win, Shastri said, “Lot of positives for us. When we are playing at home it’s easy to get complacent and carried away.” “When you lose one fast bowler (Shardul Thakur went off in the first morning), you have another one who stands up and takes 10 wickets.”
(With inputs from PTI)
