Prithvi Shaw plays a brilliant upper cut in the practice game against New Zealand XI
Shaw raced his way to an unbeaten 25-ball 35- an innings glittered with five fours and one six- when stumps were called by the umpires.
Team India is currently engrossed in a three-day practice match against New Zealand XI at Seddon Park in Hamilton. The Men in Blue wrestled back the momentum on the second day of the three-day game as they bowled the hosts out for 235 thanks to an all-round bowling effort-led by Mohammed Shami [3-17] and Jasprit Bumrah [2-18].
After getting bowled out in the first innings for 263, India needed their bowlers to step-up. And didn’t they do that with disdain? Jasprit Bumrah was back among the wickets as he claimed George Worker and Finn Allen with two stunning deliveries. While the first one held its line to induce an outside edge, the delivery to Allen jagged back in to dislodge his stumps.
After a brilliant bowling effort, India needed their openers to step-up. Prithvi Shaw, who fell for a four-ball duck while fending in the first innings, looked in the whirlwind form right from the outset. The precocious young talent played some cracking strokes but none was better than the Sehwag-esque upper-cut.
Prithvi Shaw raced to an unbeaten 25-ball 35
Shaw raced his way to an unbeaten 25-ball 35- an innings glittered with five fours and one six- when stumps were called by the umpires. Shaw has got off to a plethora of starts in the current tour but he has been unable to convert them into a really big score. With this practice match a virtual audition for the second opener’s slot, Prithvi Shaw can pretty much leapfrog Shubman Gill if he does go on and convert the start into a three-figure score.
His fellow opening partner Mayank Agarwal, who has been in disastrous form ever since he landed in New Zealand, will also aim t0 convert his start into really big innings and take that confidence into the Test series. Agarwal, for the first time on this tour, got off to a start in the second innings as he crunched four boundaries and a six during his unbeaten 17-ball 23. India will be hoping that both Mayank and Shaw put up a really big first wicket stand tomorrow as they aim to zero-in on the ideal opening pair for the first Test.
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