DELHI: “Fearless” young batting stars Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant will be India’s special weapons during their upcoming tour of Australia, Virat Kohli said.
Hailing the roles of 18-year-old Shaw and 21-year-old Pant in the two-Test victory over the West Indies, Kohli said they had been given free rein to play their natural games.
“We were looking at them playing with a lot of freedom, which they did,” Kohli said.
“Prithvi was outstanding, Rishabh was really fearless. I am really happy that these guys have grabbed their chances.”
India captain Virat Kohli (left) has very high hopes for Rishabh Pant (right).
Shaw became the youngest Indian batsman to score a century on his Test debut, smashing 134 in the first Test against the West Indies in Rajkot.
He followed it up with a quickfire 70 in the first innings of the second Test in Hyderabad.
Left-hander Pant, who hit a century during this year’s Test tour of England, followed up with scores of 92 in both the first and second Tests against the West Indies.
“In Test cricket, the first and the most important thing is confidence and understanding that you can score runs at the Test level,” said Kohli.
India coach Ravi Shastri compared Shaw to Tendulkar and the destructive Virender Sehwag and Brian Lara.
“He has been playing since the age of eight in the maidans (open spaces) of Mumbai. You can see all that hard work showing. There’s a bit of Sachin there, a bit of Viru in him — and when he walks there’s a bit of Lara as well,” said Shastri. AFP
