New Zealand vs India 2020: Ravi Shastri backs Shubman Gill to succeed

After the end of the limited-overs leg of their New Zealand tour, India shift their focus to the longest format of the game. The visitors won the T20I series 5-0 but ended up losing the ODI series 3-0. India are now set to field a new opening pair as Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the remainder of the tour with a calf injury.

Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill are the two young guns out of whom one will partner Mayank Agarwal in the first Test on 21 February. And coach Ravi Shastri believes that both the batsmen are talented enough to be successful for India in the longest format.

Ravi Shastri

Shastri is confident about Gill being good enough to represent India and believes that he is here to stay, especially after his double-hundred and century against New Zealand A.

“What a wonderful talent. I have been watching him (Gill) closely for two years now and the way he’s gone about it, it was only a matter of time before he got here. Whether or not he plays in this Test (Wellington), we know for sure that he’s here to stay,” Shastri told TOI.

Shaw, on the other hand, is making his comeback into the Indian Test squad. He had hit a brilliant century against West Indies on debut but later was suspended for eight months with a doping violation.

Prithvi Shaw

Since his comeback, he has hit a double century for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and has also shown some good form for India A in the limited-overs series.

“It’s great to have Prithvi back. The more time he spends with the team, the faster he’ll get back into the groove. He’s a phenomenal talent and he has the best available opportunity to make use of it. The challenge therefore lies with the cricketer too, as to how he takes it up and works his way forward. I’m sure he’ll make the most of it,” Shastri stated.