India vs West Indies 1st Test: Prithvi Shaw Reminded Me of Virender Sehwag Says Suresh Raina

Experienced India batsman Suresh Raina has compared the strokeplay of 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw with Virender Sehwag. On Thursday, Prithvi became the youngest Indian batsman to score a century on Test debut. Raina felt that Prithvi oozed class and reminded him quite a few times of the all-time great Virender Sehwag. Head coach Ravi Shastri stated that he had a mixture of Tendulkar and Sehwag in his debut innings. Prithvi scored a sensational 134 which came in 154 deliveries and was studded with 19 fours.

“He played really well. Nice, hardworking guy. He reminds me of Viru. The brisk rate at which he scores runs and his fearlessness,” Raina was quoted as saying by IANS. “The way he played his shots is pure class. He is one for the future,” he said. Raina is among those 15 Indian batsmen to score a century on Test debut. The southpaw struck a century in his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo back in 2010.

Prithvi Shaw grabs opportunity with both hands

Shaw was part of the Indian squad for the last two Tests in England. However, he failed to bag an opportunity in the Playing XI. After dismal performances from Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay in England, it was time for Shaw to grab his opportunity and he did that with both hands. He joined the likes of legendary Indian cricketers like Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin, Lala Amarnath, Shikhar Dhawan. Even Virender Sehwag scored a century on Test debut.

Raina was not ready to comment on the fact whether Prithvi would go on to serve the issues in the opening slot for India. He said it is too early to comment on that. However, he never denied the fact that he is a class apart. “It’s too early to say that. Let’s hope for the best.”

Raina, however, refused to comment on whether it was a lack of communication between Murali Vijay and Karun Nair after they were dropped from the Test squad. “The selectors should address the issue. I don’t want to comment on that.” Vijay was pretty ordinary during the first two Tests in England and managed ordinary scores of 20, 6 and a couple of ducks in the last two innings. Meanwhile, Karun Nair was also dropped from the side. It was pretty strange especially given the fact that he was in the original squad for the England tour but warmed the benches throughout the tour.