Mumbai:- Batting legend and India Under-19 coach Rahul Dravid today described Mambai teen sensation Prithvi Shaw, part of the team for the ongoing youth ODI series against England, as a “talented” player who can become even better through learning and experience.
“He (Shaw) is a talented player but he’s got a long way to go. He has got lot to learn. None of them are finished products, all are learning along the way. He will get opportunities, he (is) going to have some ups and downs,” Dravid told reporters after India U-19 team beat England U-19 by 129 runs in the first match of youth ODI series here.
“I think more they failed, as long as they reflect on it and recognised shortcomings that these are the shots we need to improve, that is better. Our job is to make them aware of the things that they need to work on and to become better player from the experience me and the support staff had having played international cricket,” the former India captain said.
Shaw scored a brilliant century in the Ranji Trophy semifinal at Rajkot against Tamil Nadu and helped his side storm into the final.
“Firstly, can’t give the credit to me, it’s credit to Mumbai cricket. Actually (they) had the courage to play 17-18 year old boy (Shaw) and been able to pick him, seen him perform obviously in domestic cricket and U-19 cricket,” Dravid said about the young opener.
“It’s really interesting, lot of times I tell people I have been in this job for close to 18-16 months, the only people actually called me up and asked me about their players are Bombay guys,” he said.
“Nobody else calls. You think that being a former India player and being a coach you find lot of associations wanted to call you up and ask you about the players, but I had only conversations with the Bombay guys. Last year they wanted to know lot about Arman (Jaffer) and Prithvi as well. So I guess in a sense it tells you why Bombay (is) so successful.”
Dravid revealed that the team had asked the groundsmen to leave as much grass as possible to get some pace and bounce.
“We have actually told the groundsmen to leave as much grass as possible to get some pace and bounce. From our perspective, we want to play on wickets like this which have bounce and pace. That’s the real challenge for us, especially also with the (U-19) World Cup in New Zealand in a year’s time.
“The more we play on wickets like these, it will give us and selectors an idea about some of the players. It will give them an idea what they need to improve on. It’s better to get those lessons now than to get them in December next year and not have enough time to prepare for it,” he said.
PTI
