Making the debut in the international cricket at the age of just 18 years old, Prithvi Shaw has impressed as an opening batsman during the two-match home Test series against Windies. After winning the Player of the Series award of this Test series, Shaw claimed he is enjoying the happy moment.
He made his debut during the first Test of the series at Rajkot and played a century knock of 134 runs and also won the Player of the Match award. In the second Test at Hyderabad, he scored 70 and 33* respectively and finished the series as the leading runs scorer by scoring 237 runs (in 3 innings) with the average of 118.50.
At the end of the Test series that India won by 2-0, after winning the Player of the Series award, Shaw said, “It was a happy moment for me, finishing a game for India. It’s a moment of pride. My first international series and winning it 2-0 with a MOTs award is a great feeling. Everyone is like a family now, it’s not like a junior and senior situation anymore. I don’t know what’s happening next, I’m just enjoying this moment.”
While Shaw was the Player of the Match award winner in the Rajkot Test, Indian pacer Umesh Yadav received the Player of the Match award in the Hyderabad Test where he claimed his maiden 10-wicket haul in the Test career. After taking six wickets (6/88) in the first innings of this Test match, the right-arm pacer again took four wickets (4/45) during Windies’ second innings. Since 1999, it was the first time when an Indian pacer claimed the 10-wicket haul in a home Test match.
After winning the Player of the Match award, Yadav thanked his team-mates and claimed that they are enjoying the healthy competition in the team.
At the presentation ceremony, Yadav said, “First of all, I want to thank my team-mates for giving me the support and confidence. I knew I was the only fast bowler in the team so I just went all out and gave it my best, tried to take five more in the second innings. It’s always good to have healthy competition in the team. We’re enjoying each other’s company. We keep giving our best for each other and the team.”
Earlier, on the day three morning of the Hyderabad Test, India was unexpectedly bundled out on 367 runs from their overnight score 308/4. Indian skipper Virat Kohli didn’t expect that as they wanted more lead.
Starting on that during the presentation ceremony, the Indian skipper said, “We didn’t expect that in the morning. West Indies did really well to put pressure on us. Getting 50-60 lead was a bonus for us. We wanted more. But we understood how to create pressure and intensity with the ball. Didn’t think a three-day finish was part of the plan.”
Also read: Windies tour of India 2018-19 (Second Test): Stats Review
Kohli is happy with the overall performances but especially praised the Player of the Match award winner Umesh Yadav. While Kohli feels great on the overall bowling efforts, he feels now the batsmen need to take their responsibilities.
Kohli said, “If you look at the three new guys who’ve come in, they’ve grabbed their opportunities. I think all these things are a big positive. But from this Test I want to single out Umesh. Shardul broke down and to take ten wickets is great. His energy in the field too. Outstanding performance. We’re all happy for him. I think it’s a great luxury to have [several seamers]. We have a headache to choose out of so many good quality bowlers. That’s a better position to be in than looking for bowlers. I’m really happy to see these guys fit and hungry. It’s up to the batsmen to do the rest of the job. I think this game was tougher for the batsmen. This first innings was more challenging than the last one. Jason coming in – he knows how to take wickets. Jinx has been batting really well, he got runs in Nottingham and we won the Test. He wanted runs under the belt. His 145 partnership with Pant is something we want to see more of.”
Meanwhile, the Windies skipper felt disappointed on Windies’ second innings batting where the visitors were bundled out for just 127 runs. While they didn’t select the fit pacer Kemar Roach for this game, Holder said they should go with one extra pacer as the wicket didn’t spin much as they thought.
Holder said, “Definitely a little disappointed with the batting. We fought our way back nicely after the first Test. Credit to the way India play cricket. In hindsight a lot of seamers got wickets, we probably would’ve gone with an extra seamer. Didn’t spin as much as we thought. I think that’s the thing – we need to apply ourselves more in batting. We need to give ourselves time.”
Individually, the skipper Holder performed very well in this game who missed the first Test at Rajkot due to the ankle injury. After playing a crucial 52 runs knock in the first innings, he had a bowling figure of 23-5-56-5 at the end of India’s first innings.
Taking about himself, Holder said, “Personally I’m in a good headspace. I love playing Test cricket. It’s my favourite format.”
