Who should debut at Rajkot? Mayank or Prithvi?
India is set to face West Indies in the first Test at Rajkot from Thursday. This is the first Test assignment for Team India after the tough tour of England ended in September. Many of the changes made in the squad for this series is reflective of the performances in England.
Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay have been dropped from the team and the selectors have blooded in some of the most exciting youngsters at domestic level: Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw.
With KL set to occupy the role of one opener, only one of the two talented openers is going to be handed a debut at Rajkot. Let us try to find out which opener should debut for India at Rajkot.
Mayank Agarwal
Mayank has been India's standout domestic player for quite some time now. He has piled on runs for his state team Karnataka in all the formats. He has also contributed heavily as part of Indian A team too.
A lacklustre season with KXIP in 2018 has been the only drawback for Mayank in the last year's domestic season. In spite of being a consistent performer in the domestic circuit, the selectors were not considering him for a place in the national team.
However, with Shikar and Murali Vijay being dropped from the squad, Mayank has been given his much-needed call-up in the Test squad for the West Indies series. With the Australia tour not far way, Mayank will be looking to grab his opportunity in this tournament to be on the flight to Australia.
Prithvi Shaw
After a successful U-19 World Cup campaign where he led the Indian team to victory, Prithvi had an impressive season in the IPL with Delhi Daredevils. He then scored tons of runs for his state team - Mumbai.
In recent times, Prithvi has been exceptional for India A team too. With him set to lead the next generation of Indian cricketers, the whole nation will be very curious to know he performs.
Till now, in terms of on-field performances, Prithvi's career has been following almost the same path as that of Tendulkar's, which has increased the expectations of Indian fans.
With a good consistent performance, Prithvi can become the next big thing in cricket. He would like to start his journey to the top from Thursday onwards.
Final Verdict
Mayank, at 27 years of age, has a wealth of experience at the domestic level. He has been a part of IPL for more than 6 years and is coming good now for the teams he is representing. On the other hand, Prithvi had a spike in his career with his performances for Mumbai and India U-19.
With India needing an experienced opener as a replacement for Murali Vijay, it would be better off giving an opportunity to the experienced Mayank to start off. Prithvi has time on his side and he will definitely be a part of the Indian team in the future.