Prithvi Shaw has traits of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Brian Lara, reckons Ravi Shastri

India head coach Ravi Shastri sees shades of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag in young Prithvi Shaw’s batting.

The youngster had a memorable debut Test series where he smashed a 52-ball 70 in India’s first innings effort of 367 runs. He had also smacked a classy hundred in his debut match in Rajkot.

“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,” said Shastri, as quoted by The Indian Express.

Also read: Captain Virat Kohli calls for an end to comparisons surrounding Prithvi Shaw

“If he can keep his head on his shoulders and keep the work ethic, he has a bright future,” he added after India hammered the West Indies by 10 wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium to clinch an easy 2-0 series victory.

At 18 years and 339 days, Shaw became the youngest in Test cricket to hit the winning runs for his team after Australian Pat Cummins had done in at 18 years and 198 days–against South Africa way back in 2011.

The coach had words of praise for Umesh Yadav, who was India’s star with the ball. Having fallen short of a fast bowler after debutant Shardul Thakur’s injury, Yadav shouldered the burden and took six wickets in the first innings. He then scalped another four in the second innings as ended with a match haul of 10 wickets–becoming only the third Indian pacer after the legendary Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath to have achieved this feat.

Also feat: India vs West Indies: Umesh Yadav sets-up dominant Indian victory

“It can be a frustrating profession when you sit on the bench like Umesh for 4 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).

“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,” he opined.

On Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, Shastri said, “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”

He also opened up about the return of India’s regular Test stumper Wriddhiman Saha and his challenge to the 20-year old Pant for a place in the side.

Said the 56-year old, ” You’ve got to go on current form.”

“Lot of positives for us. When we are playing at home it’s easy to get complacent and carried away.” “When you lose one fast bowler (Shardul Thakur went off in the first morning), you have another one who stands up and takes 10 wickets,” he added, on India’s emphatic win.

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