England vs India 2018: Prithvi Shaw's chance of playing the fourth Test match
India's Test squad for the last two matches was announced last night and two new faces have been added to the Indian squad. A victory in the third Test match has opened the gate for India to bounce back and Kohli's men must win the final two Tests at Southampton and Oval to secure a series victory. However, the selectors axed Kuldeep Yadav and the Test specialist Murali Vijay from the squad.
Meanwhile, the selectors picked two new players who have been performing extremely well in the domestic Cricket. The 18-year old opener Prithvi Shaw got his maiden call-up to the Indian team. Similarly, Hanuma Vihari was picked in the Indian squad for the first time. In fact, both batsmen have been in top-notch form and at least one of them might play the next Test match against England.
In addition, Prithvi Shaw is rated as one of the best young players in the country. He has obtained plenty of achievements at an early age. As a matter of fact, he was the captain of India U19 team, which won the World Cup earlier this year. He led from the front and helped India to win the U19 World Cup. Moreover, Shaw's domestic Cricket form has been noteworthy. The youngster has seven centuries and five half-centuries in just 13 first-class matches and he has an average of 60.
He made his Ranji Trophy debut in the 2016-17 season and scored an impressive century in his debut match. He was a part of India A team this year and played some good knocks in England. Therefore, he is familiar with the English condition and he could play some big knocks if he gets a place in the starting eleven.
However, after the third Test victory, Team India is looking quite balanced and it would not be easy for Shaw to get a place in the starting eleven. Though the openers underperformed in the first two Test matches, a new opening pair of Rahul and Dhawan made 60 plus partnerships in both innings of the third Test. But neither KL Rahul nor Shikhar Dhawan was able to score big runs after a decent start.
If India decides to drop one of them for the next Test match, then Prithvi Shaw has a gigantic possibility to open the innings. Shaw will be determined to make a mark if he makes his Test debut.