Former Indian cricketer, VVS Laxman reckons that the young Indian protege, Prithvi Shaw was overlooked for the ongoing ODI series against England despite the latter scoring most runs in a season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Laxman asserted that Shaw is a “match-winner” and said he is sure that the youngster will get his opportunity. Shaw scored 827 runs in eight innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy but still failed to receive a national call-up.

Talking about the same during a show on Star Sports, VVS Laxman said, “I think, definitely, the way Prithvi Shaw performed, he deserves to be a part of the ODI squad but the way the selectors have gone about selecting the squad is whoever have been performers, they have made a sort of a line or a queue. Prithvi Shaw, at the moment, is behind in the queue because we have Shubman Gill, who has done really well in international cricket, in the opportunity he has got recently.”

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He further added, “Plus, you have experienced openers in the form of KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, and Rohit Sharma, and you can only have probably three or four openers in the squad. I am sure Prithvi Shaw will get his opportunity. What really impressed me was that he worked on his technique. He is a match-winner and I am sure he will get his opportunity.”

Jonny Bairstow played a fiery knock of 04 runs, but the brilliant bowling by the Indian attack helped the hosts to registered a 66-run victory in the first ODI of the three-match series against England on Tuesday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. With this win, India have gone 1-0 up in the three-match series. Both teams will now play the second ODI on Friday.

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar explained why Krunal Pandya got the nod ahead of Axar Patel in the England ODI series while insisting that India has a “plethora of options available with them.”

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Sanjay Bangar said, “So, India, with the depth of talent they have at the moment… It’s just a factory, the structure is so good. Krunal Pandya richly deserves (his India call-up) for his Vijay Hazare performances, having scored two 100s and picked up wickets, and has got a chance. If Axar is good for a T20I and Test matches, then he should be good enough for ODI cricket as well. Apart from that, India has plethora of options available with them.”