Virat Kohli on Prithvi Shaw: “Great to have a guy who’s so fearless”

Virat Kohli on Prithvi Shaw: The Indian captain was all praises for rookie Prithvi Shaw after him being adjourned as the Man of the Series.

India captain Virat Kohli seems to be highly impressed with India’s newest recruit in Prithvi Shaw. Apart from Kohli, Shaw has created a deep impact on the whole nation for he was elected as the ‘Man of the Series’ in his first international series.

Other than Shaw, three Indians in Sourav Ganguly (1996), Ravichandran Ashwin (2011) and Rohit Sharma (2014) have achieved this feat in the past, something which tells that it isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Shaw has it in him to be the kind of batsman which India might just be requiring in Test matches at the top of the order. Someone who attacks the ball from the word go by playing authentic cricket shots. Apart from whacking the ball, Shaw also has it in him to work the ball around when boundaries don’t come in easy.

Having observed this quality of Shaw, Kohli also explained his importance at the top of the order. “Looks like someone who can get you off to the kind of start you require, especially to make the first mark in any series you play,” Kohli said of Shaw.

“From that point of view, it’s great to have a guy who’s so fearless. And he’s not reckless. He is very confident about his game. You might feel like he is going to nick off one now but he hardly nicks the ball.

“That we saw in England as well, when he was batting in the nets. He was really attacking but in control throughout which is a very rare quality against the new ball,” he added.

Kohli went on to be wax lyrical about wicket-keeper batsman Pant as well, who, batting down the order, scored 92 twice in the series. “Rishabh [Pant] was fearless. Overall, both those guys [Pant and Shaw] were really really good, solidifying their place in the team and understanding how to play at this level.

“I know that the conditions might not be as challenging as they might get in future but in Test cricket the first and the most important thing in confidence and understanding that you can score runs at the Test level,” he further added.

Read some of the latest Twitter reactions about Shaw below: