Virat Kohli Reacts To Prithvi Shaw's Poor Performance In New Zealand
Published - 24 Feb 2020, 10:17 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 06:46 AM
Prithvi Shaw failed to impress much on his Test comeback as India suffered a crushing ten-wicket loss at the hands of New Zealand in the first Test. The right-handed batsman was playing his first Test since his debut series in 2018 against West Indies when he scored a century on his debut.
He missed the historic series win in Australia due to an injury sustained on the eve of the series before a doping violation saw him miss the last home season. Prithvi Shaw hit the ground running in domestic circuit and also impressed for India A in New Zealand but has struggled in international cricket.
He made his ODI debut this month against New Zealand but scored only 84 runs in three matches. And he failed to regain his form in Tests too as he managed to score only 16 and 14 in the first Test that ended on Monday. There are now calls for the inclusion of in-form Shubman Gill in place of Prithvi Shaw.
That's that from the Basin Reserve as New Zealand win the 1st Test by 10 wickets and register their 100th Test win.
Scorecard – https://t.co/Jo6w0HOybN #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/N9nxwVH0no
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 24, 2020
However, India captain Virat Kohli has leapt in the defence of the young opener. Speaking after the loss in the first Test, Virat Kohli hailed Prithvi Shaw as a ‘natural stroke-maker’ and backed him to ‘figure out things’ to start scoring. He also praised Mayank Agarwal who was the only Indian batsman to score a fifty in the first Test,
“Prithvi has played only two games away from home. He is a natural stroke-maker and would figure out things to get the runs going. Mayank was outstanding in both the innings. Him and Jinks were the only two batters who got some tempo. We just need to stick our template as a batting unit,” said Virat Kohli.
Meanwhile, India set New Zealand a target of only 9 runs after being bowled out for 191 on day four. The visitors had started the day on 144 for 9, trailing New Zealand by 39 runs, and lost their last six wickets for just 57 runs. In reply, New Zealand chased down the total in just ten balls without losing any wicket.
