Former India cricketer turned famous commentator Aakash Chopra has referred to the young India opener, Prithvi Shaw, as a phenomenal player. He, however, shared his thoughts about his struggle while trying to convert his starts in the just-concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka.
Prithvi Shaw has played in all three matches against Sri Lanka. He started the series with a blistering 43 off 24 balls and then followed it up with scores of 13 and 49 respectively as well. And as per Chopra, while Shaw has been getting a good start while staying in the middle, he should convert that into bigger scores as well.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel: “I like Prithvi Shaw; he is a phenomenal player. He played two good knocks in the first and third ODI. He has been in swashbuckling form, and that’s the only way he knows to bat – going hard at the bowling. The beauty of Prithvi Shaw’s batting is that when he hits the ball, it mostly races through the gaps in the field. As long as he is at the crease, batting seems like a breeze. You feel like applauding his strokes; Prithvi Shaw is that kind of a player.”
ALSO READ: Kapil Dev Questions The Changing Mindset Of Players
He continued: “But Prithvi Shaw will be upset with one aspect of his game. He got good starts in two of the three matches. In the first match, India were not chasing a big total, and Prithvi Shaw had enough time to play a long innings. In the third ODI, India batted first, and he again had time on his hands to build a big score. There was no pressure as such both times, yet Prithvi Shaw fell before crossing the half-century mark.”
However, Chopra stated that Prithvi Shaw doesn’t need to change his style of play as he believes he can make a greater impact with huge scores as well.
ALSO READ: Australia Cricketers Likely To Be Available For Rest of IPL 2021: Report
The former player explained: “Playing blazing and audacious strokes looks great out in the middle. At the end of the day though, the youngster needs to remember that batsmen who score 100-150 make a bigger impact in the game, and selectors find it difficult to ignore such performances. Prithvi Shaw was a positive no doubt, but he needs to work on converting starts.”
On the other hand, as per the reports, Prithvi Shaw is likely to be flown to England as a replacement for Shubman Gill for the upcoming five-match Test series as well. Notably, he had last played in the longer format in Adelaide last year.
