Michael Vaughan Suggests Prithvi Shaw’s Replacement For First Test Against Australia
Dec 1, 2018 at 10:18 AM
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has said he would replace injured India opener Prithvi Shaw with Rohit Shaw in the top-order for the upcoming Test against Australia.
Ahead of the much-awaited Test series against Australia, India suffered a huge injury blow, losing opener Prithvi Shaw to an ankle injury. The young batting sensation suffered the injury while fielding in the warm-up game against Cricket Australia XI and has been ruled out of the first Test.
Prithvi Shaw, fielding on the deep mid-wicket fence, caught CA XI opener Max Bryant just inside the rope and fell over while trying to keep the ball in play as momentum carried him beyond. In doing so, he ended up twisting his ankle while landing.
Shaw immediately fell to the ground while grimacing as India physio Patrick Farhart rushed to attend to him. The youngster was then carried off the field as he was unable to put any pressure on his left leg. BCCI later confirmed that he was taken to the hospital for scans.
The scans revealed a lateral ligament injury and Shaw will be undergo an “intensive rehabilitation program” to become available at the earliest.
As of now, India have two specialist openers in the team – KL Rahul and Murali Vijay. However, Rahul is out-of-form while Vijay has not played an international game since being dropped after the third Test in England. The team-management is yet to name a replacement for Shaw. Not surprisingly, the Indian team-management has its task cut out ahead of the first Test.
Well, Michael Vaughan has come up with another idea. The Ashes-winning skipper suggested that India could try out Rohit Sharma as an opener.
Vaughan tweeted,
“Such a shame if @PrithviShaw misses the 1st Test versus the Aussies .. Fantastic young talent .. I personally would replace him with @ImRo45 at the top of the order .. He is far too good not to master Test Cricket.”
Such a shame if @PrithviShaw misses the 1st Test versus the Aussies .. Fantastic young talent .. I personally would replace him with @ImRo45 at the top of the order .. He is far too good not to master Test Cricket .. #AUSvIND
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 30, 2018
Rohit is making to Test cricket through the upcoming series. One of the best batsmen in ODIs and T20Is, Rohit was dropped from the team after the South Africa tour earlier this year.
Rohit started his Test career with a bang. Drafted in the team for the series against Windies in 2013 which will be always remembered as the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s testimonial series, Rohit managed to steal the thunder for a while. In his first two innings, he slammed two centuries, becoming only the fifth batsman to do so. However, those two terrific knocks were not the precursor of how his Test career would unfold. Even five years after his debut, he is yet to cement his place.
But promoting him as an opener could just do the trick just like it worked in ODIs and T20Is.