I Will Want Prithvi Shaw To Play All Six Matches On Sri Lanka Tour - VVS Laxman

Former India batsman VVS Laxman said that Prithvi Shaw will have a great opportunity to make a strong comeback in the Indian team on the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, and for that, the opener would be required to grab his chances in the 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is.

Prithvi Shaw is likely to be given the nod ahead of the likes of Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain Shikhar Dhawan’s opening partner. The right-hander is making his comeback to international cricket after being dropped from the Test side in Australia. He has featured in 5 ODIs so far, the last of which was in New Zealand in February last year, and is yet to make his T20I debut.

After being dropped in Australia, Shaw was in terrific form in the domestic season and then in the IPL, forcing his way into national reckoning once again.

“I will want Prithvi Shaw to play all the six matches, not only the ODIs but T20Is as well. No one has any doubt about his ability,” VVS Laxman said while speaking on Star Sports. 

“This will definitely be an opportunity for him because he has to make a comeback in all formats, not only in white-ball cricket but in Test matches as well.”

We saw the hunger in him in the Vijay Hazare tournament: VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman marvelled over Shaw’s thunderous run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier in the year. After returning from Australia, the diminutive opener attained a freakish form where he smashed 827 runs – a record in the history of the VHT tournament –  in 8 innings at a scarcely believable average of 165.4, while leading Mumbai to the title.

He then followed it up with 308 runs at a strike rate of 166.49 in the IPL 2021 before the tournament was suspended.

VVS Laxman observed that Shaw had made changes to his technique after the horrible form last year, and lauded the youngster for overcoming his struggles.

“More than the IPL, I was impressed with his performance as a captain in the Vijay Hazare tournament because he was dropped from the Indian team and there was a lot of discussion about his technique.

“We saw the hunger in him in the Vijay Hazare tournament, match after match not only centuries but match-winning knocks, highest run-getter in the tournament as a captain. Secondly, we also saw the change in his technique in the IPL. This is what you want to see from a young batsman,” the 46-year-old former batsman stated.

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