Prithvi Shaw and Umesh Yadav Gets Virat Kohli’s Appraisal Ahead of Australia Tour

The two-Test series against the Windies has ended and after six days of cricket, the hosts have won the series 2-0.

Cricket news: Both the players were terrific in the second Test against the Windies

With the series win, the Men in Blue have won 10 consecutive Test series at home and are now preparing themselves for the upcoming tour of Australia later this year.

It now seems that the 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw, who has just debuted, and the pacer Umesh Yadav, who rarely plays overseas, are now a part of the plan.

Skipper Kohli wants the bowling department to be their main strength. He is confident of his batting as he feels that they can face Mitchell Starc and Co. when the Tests begin in Adelaide.

Kohli felt Umesh gave the bowling attack effectiveness which they would need in the Australian conditions. For Prithvi, he praised the young lad by saying, “I don’t think any of us were even 10 percent of what he is at 18-19.”

“The guy has grabbed his chance beautifully. He looks like someone that can get you off to the kind of start that you require, especially to make the first mark in any series that you play. So from that point of view it’s great to have a guy who’s so fearless. And he’s not reckless. He’s very confident about his game. You might feel like he’s 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. To play so many shots and be in control of all of them is a great sign.”

Umesh Yadav became the third pacer to get a ten-wicket haul in Tests and skipper Kohli Is all praise for him. He said, “It’s good to have all guys confident and raring to go because four Tests in Australia can be brutal because the ball doesn’t do much like England. You have to come in and run in all day, bowl in the right areas, with pace. So I think from that point of view, Umesh is right up there to be featuring in Australia because he’s got the pace. He’s got the fitness levels to run in all day to pick us wickets at crucial times and he gets good bounce as well.

“Not many people realise but he’s a very very talented bowler. He can bowl you unplayable deliveries every now and then. He’ll bowl a ball which you feel like you couldn’t have done anything else apart from getting out. It’s just that he’s gaining more confidence about his own game, especially in Test cricket, I think he’s come a long way and he understands his bowling really well.

“It’s a great sign, as I said, to have four guys bowling so well who can pick up wickets. That’s something we want to keep as a consistent part of our team. Obviously the batting is something that we’re learning from the last tour we want to improve on collectively. But bowling is something we need to keep as a major strength in order for us to feel like we have a chance to win a series when we travel away from home.”

Prithvi and Rishabh were the top scorers against the Windies and are only 18 and 20 years of age. Kohli believes that it is a positive sign as he said, “We were looking at the youngsters playing with a lot of freedom. Prithvi was outstanding. Rishabh was really fearless. Areas that they need to work on, they’ll obviously be spoken to in that regard. Overall both those guys are really good, solidifying their place in the team and understanding how to play at this level. I know the conditions might not be as challenging as they might get in future. But in Test cricket the first and most important thing is confidence and understanding that you can score runs in Test level. I think from that point of view we’re very happy that they’ve taken their chances so well. Getting Man of the Series [like Prithvi Shaw] in the first series regardless of where we play or how you play, its an outstanding achievement.”