Just before Delhi Daredevils reached Mumbai for an Indian Premier League (IPL) match, a request was made on behalf of Sky Sports, the British television station.
“Can we get an opportunity to speak to Prithvi Shaw?” read an email from a producer of Sky Sports. It so happened that former England captain, the Chennai-born Nasser Hussain was going to be in Mumbai at the time. Hussain was going to be fronting a documentary that Sky Sports was putting together on Mumbai cricket.
Hussain was going to be talking to the usual suspects of Mumbai cricket-Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar, apart from spending a lot of time in the maidaans. The documentary was meant to be telecast during the ongoing India tour. Shreyas Iyer, another Delhi Daredevils player, was also much sought after for an interview.
During the filming of the Shaw interview on the lawns of a plush five-star hotel in South Mumbai, Hussain was mighty impressed with the way the young boy presented himself.
Still only 18, Shaw appeared a confident young boy to Hussain who had heard a lot about the boy wonder. As the interview drew to a close, Hussain was told by yours truly that Shaw could well be in England for the Test series. Hussain then came up with a reply which still holds true.
If he (Shaw) is not in England for the Test matches I would be surprised. India better have many better batsmen than him for him not to be chosen.Nasser Hussain
That summed up the kind of waves Shaw was creating across the cricketing world especially following the triumph in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Shaw came across as someone who was calm and was prepared to bide his time at the crease.
But the actual storm was created by Shaw’s stupendous form in the domestic season just before the Under-19 World Cup. During the Ranji Trophy season, Shaw scored 537 runs from just six matches with three hundreds and two half-centuries. He was the most talked about batsman in the domestic season.
Battling for Places
Shaw’s India A opening partner Mayank Agarwal stormed the batting charts last season in domestic cricket. But in terms of potential Shaw was always being looked at as a long-term potential and as an investment. Agarwal was also breaking down the barriers with his run-making abilities. In fact Agarwal too was in top form in the recent India A games both in England and at home.
The fact that the selectors and the think-tank have not picked Agarwal may be purely because at this stage Shaw is a little ahead in the pecking order. Shaw should have anyways been in the Test squad in the first place.
At that stage, Shikhar Dhawan was very lucky to have retained his place in the Test squad, while Murali Vijay was the more secure candidate.
Uncertain Future for Vijay
In the last four years Dhawan has not completed a full series away from India and has always been left out after the first or second Test. So when Dhawan was left out of the second Test in England this time, it did seem like the end was near for him in red ball cricket. But Vijay’s failures meant that that the roles were reversed.
Dhawan played bit more freely in the third Test and that probably sounded the death knell for Vijay, this time probably for good. At 34, Vijay is going to face an uphill task to make a return to the Test squad any time soon.
Meanwhile, if Dhawan had indeed failed again, it could well have been both Shaw and Agarwal who would have been back in England on that flight. Instead at this stage it is just Shaw who will be the reserve Test opener.
Shaw’s Opportunity Will Come
Still only 18, Shaw could well be a regular Test opener for India before the year is out. With Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins raring to go against India in Australia, there could be more trial by fire for the incumbent Indian openers. That should mean Shaw could well be in with a chance to open sooner rather than later in whites for India.
Shaw for now has got an opportunity to soak in the atmosphere of the Indian dressing room by right. There are usually a couple of development players who are picked as part of a Test squad. Rishabh Pant was lucky to have graduated from that into the big league during the third Test. Who knows Shaw could have a similar good fortune.
As for Agarwal he has to continue breaking down the wall with his scores. He has two four-day games against Australia A, along with a quadrangular at home to show his worth. His time will come, maybe in white ball cricket first and then in red ball.
Reward for Consistency
The other interesting selection has been the choice of Hanuma Vihari as a reserve middle-order batsman. Vihari was the less fancy name as compared to Shaw who had won hearts in white ball cricket. Vihari on the other hand is a typical journeyman cricketer who has earned his call-up after being a consistent domestic performer as well as in the recent India A engagements.
That Vihari has been chosen ahead of a Rohit Sharma, shows that the selectors are now looking ahead than back. Vihari is one of those unfashionable players in the Indian cricket who is unwanted during the IPL, but he is still on the radar. Vihari is now of the three players (others being Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma) in the Indian Test squad who have not played in the IPL in recent times.
The selectors have also sent out a strong message in terms of pecking order for the middle order: the next man in is Karun Nair and then Vihari. So in many ways Vihari has leapfrogged a number of others, including his current India A captain Shreyas Iyer.
Selectors have also shown that they don’t want to get influenced by white ball form and confuse formats while picking the Test squad. This is the best possible thing as all three Indian squads can move in their own direction and pace.
(Chandresh Narayanan is former cricket writer with The Times of India, The Indian Express, ex-Media Officer for ICC and current media manager of Delhi Daredevils. He is also the author of World Cup Heroes, Cricket Editorial consultant, professor and cricket TV commentator.)
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