India has named their youngest Test debutant in more than a decade, announcing that highly-rated 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw will play against the West Indies this week.
Shaw will open alongside KL Rahul after Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, who opened for India in the recent five-Test series in England, were dropped following modest returns in that 4-1 defeat.
Rahul scored 149 in the final match of that series to avoid the axe and he will be partnered at the top of the order by Shaw, who at the age of 18 and 329 days will become India's youngest Test debutant since Ishant Sharma in 2007.
Shaw has long been pegged for a career at the top level and has earned multiple comparisons with Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar.
Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Md. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur
He scored 188 against West Indies A in England in July, his sixth first-class century from just 12 matches, and added a score of 136 against South Africa A last month. He averages 56.72 from 14 first-class matches overall
He captained India to the Under-19 World Cup title earlier this year and was also their leading run-scorer, but it's the way he scores his runs as much as his ability to post big scores that has earned him comparisons to the legendary Tendulkar.
"The first thing you notice is his technique, it's very similar to Sachin Tendulkar," former Australia batsman Mark Waugh said earlier this year.
"His grip, his stance, he stays very still at the crease and plays all his shots around the wicket. He plays the ball quite late and is quite punchy in his strokeplay and has an excellent base to play any shot from any bowler.
"He's just so much like Sachin Tendulkar."
India XI: Lokesh Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav/Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav
West Indies (from): Jason Holder (c), Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wicketkeeper), Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Sherman Lewis, Keemo Paul, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Jomel Warrican, Alzarri Joseph
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