England vs India 2018: Prithvi Shaw could make his debut in the fifth Test
After a series of disappointing performances with the bat, Indian team management might finally drop opening batsman KL Rahul from the playing XI and give teenager Prithvi Shaw a chance in the fifth Test that begins in a few days' time, reports Times of India.
Ever since the start of the Test series between India and England, the opening batsmen from both the teams have been below-par as they managed to score just one fifty the whole series and that came from the bat of Shikhar Dhawan.
India's first-choice opening batsman before the start of the series, Murali Vijay, who scored just 26 runs in the first two matches including a Pair at Lord's, was sent back home after the third Test and was replaced by Prithvi while KL Rahul has been given an extended run and the Karnataka batsman failed to repay the faith the team had in him as he has been struggling to get going against the England pacers, especially against the deliveries that come in.
In the eight innings he batted in the series, he has registered scores of 4, 13, 8, 10, 23, 36, 19 and 0 in the second innings of the Southampton Test. Rahul string of low scores might have just opened the door for Prithvi Shaw, who is hailed as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Prithvi, who led India to victory in the 2018 under-19 World Cup, has been in fine form with India A in their recent tour of England and the home series against South Africa A.
In England, Prithvi has scored 250 runs in four innings in unofficial Tests against England Lions and West Indies A and followed it up with a 136 in the first unofficial Test against South Africa A before making it to the national team.
The fifth Test between both the teams will get underway at the Kia Oval in London from September 7. With the series already lost, India will look to salvage some pride before they come back home.