The young Indian prodigy Prithvi Shaw played his maiden Test series and became the highest run-scorer along with Umesh Yadav picked the most wickets as India swept the Windies 2-0. Shaw opened the batting in both the Tests and broke many records along the way and ended up being the Player of the Match in his debut game as India won by an innings and 272 runs.
On to Hyderabad for the second Test, and while Shaw did his burgeoning reputation no harm with 70 and 33*, Yadav was the standout performer, returning 6/88 and 4/45 to set up a 10-wicket win for India.
Speaking on Yadav, who led the Indian pace attack after the early injury of Shardul Thakur, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli said, “Outstanding. To bowl like that in both innings was a great effort on his part, and showed the kind of fitness level he has, to keep running in and bowling 140 clicks throughout the game … picking wickets, importantly, not just completing overs. I think this was the standout performance in his career and something he can build on.”
ALSO READ: Viswanath feels Virat Kohli has still to prove as captain
Yadav played just one Test in England as India went down 4-1 recently, but in Indian conditions, where he has often been preferred over others because of his pace and ability to generate reverse swing, he was back at his best.
With 10 wickets across the two innings @y_umesh is the Player of the Match 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/GxEpVoxeGd
— ICC (@ICC) October 14, 2018
Virat explained, “Not many people realize, but he’s a very, very talented bowler. He can bowl unplayable deliveries every now and then, which we experience in the nets all the time. He’ll bowl a ball that you’ll feel you couldn’t have done anything else apart from getting out. He’s gaining more confidence in his own game, especially in Test cricket, he’s come a long way. He understands his bowling really well.”
But, while Yadav is a veteran campaigner, Shaw, and Rishabh Pant, the young wicket-keeper batsman, are new, raw, and needed to prove their worth at the international level. Pant had already made a mark by scoring a century in the final Test in England and followed it up with knocks of 92 and 92 in his two innings against the Windies. And Shaw has certainly made a case for himself when India travel to Australia later in the year.
ALSO READ: Shaw and Pant Witnesses Significant Gains In ICC Rankings
Talking about the same, the Indian skipper said, “The youngsters, we were looking for them to play with a lot of freedom, which they did. Prithvi was outstanding. Rishabh was really fearless. Areas they need to work, they will obviously be spoken to in that regard. But overall both those guys were really, really good. I know the conditions might not be as challenging as they might get in future, but in Test cricket, the first and the most important thing is confidence and understanding that you can score runs at the Test level. From that point of view, I’m very happy that these guys have taken their chance so well.”
And, the Man of the Series award goes to young @PrithviShaw 👏👏💪#INDvWI pic.twitter.com/PU4wB07Shq
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 14, 2018
Shaw has made a name of himself this year an astounding pace, got in ahead of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan for the Windies Tests, with KL Rahul as his partner, and proved the selectors’ faith in him right.
Describing his thoughts about the young prodigy, Kohli said, “He looks like someone who can get you off to the kind of start that you require, especially to make the first mark in any series that you play. It’s great to have a guy who is so fearless, and he isn’t reckless, he’s very confident about his game. You might feel like he might nick off one now, but he hardly nicks the ball. And that we saw in England as well, when he was batting in the nets. He was attacking but he was in control throughout, which is a very rare quality against a new ball. You know, to play so many shots and be in control of all of them. I don’t think any of us were even 10 percent of what he is at 18-19. But he has to build on that.”
