While showering praises for the young Prithvi Shaw, who smashed a century on his Test debut in Rajkot in the opening Test against the West Indies, India opener Gautam Gambhir asked people not to draw comparisons between the talented Mumbaikar and former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag.

Talking about the same, Gautam said, “Whoever is comparing (Shaw with Sehwag) needs to think twice before comparing. He (Shaw) has just started his career and there is a long way to go. He (Shaw) has got his own individuality and Sehwag had his own individuality. Shaw has just started his career and someone like Sehwag has played 100 Test matches. Obviously, he’s (Shaw) very talented and that’s why he is there. The important thing is that he started off his Test career on a very good note but there will be far bigger and far difficult challenges waiting for him.”

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Gambhir, who played 148 ODIs and 58 Tests also felt Australia, even without the services of big guns like former captain Steve Smith and David Warner, will pose a huge challenge to India on the upcoming visit down under. He said, “It’s got to be a challenge, big challenge (in Australia). We might talk about Australian batting because they don’t have Smith and Warner but they still have a formidable batting (line-up) in their backyard. It’s not going to be a cakewalk. (Playing) Australia in Australia, whatever batting they play, they are still a massive threat.”

Gambhir was cautious when asked whether the time was right to bring in Rishabh Pant into the ODIs as cover for World Cup-winning former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The southpaw concluded, “There’s never been a right time and there’s never been a wrong time. It really depends on the combination and ultimately it’s your performance that will keep you in the side, not the age. Whether you are 36 or 37 or 47, if you keep performing you should be playing and ultimately it is the performance that keeps you in.”