Hyderabad: October 14: India head coach Ravi Shastri on Sunday lavished praise on Prithvi Shaw, comparing the teenage sensation with Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag.
“He (Shaw) is born to play cricket. He’s been playing since the age of eight in the maidans of Mumbai. You can see all that hard work showing. He’s a spectator’s delight. 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,” Shastri said.
“If he can keep his head on his shoulders and keep the work ethic, he has a bright future,” Shastri added.
India registered their tenth consecutive Test series win at home as Virat Kohli’s men crushed the West Indies by 10 wickets in the second and final cricket Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Sunday.
Opener Shaw raced to a quickfire 52-ball 70 on the second day of the second Test to give India a flying start, days after cracking a century on debut.
Shastri also praised pacer Umesh Yadav, who returned a match haul of 10 wickets to become only the third Indian pacer to achieve the feat after Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath.
“It can be a frustrating profession when you sit on the bench like Umesh for four Tests. Only 11 can play. He got his opportunity here and I’m very happy for him. It’s been done only four times (ten-for for a pacer in India),” the 56-year-old opined.
“What this will do is make him believe that he belongs. He can say now that he wants his place. That’s given us a headache. He was on target,” Shastri said of the pacer.
Shastri also lauded 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, while backing K L Rahul to regain his touch.
“I think (Rahul) will be fine. He’s a world-class player. Sometimes he tries too hard. He works really hard on his game. Pant is another name. He got his opportunity, he grabbed it, now he has consolidated it,” the coach added.
