Virat Kohli hints at choosing youngster duo for Australia tour

India skipper Virat Kohli heaped praise on the performances of youngsters Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant and hinted that both of them will be highly crucial in the forthcoming series against Australia. While Rishabh Pant earned the ‘Bankable Player of the Series’ award after India won a tenth consecutive home series win, debutant Shaw took away the Player of the Series trophy.

Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan were dropped for the recently concluded series against the Windies, which gave way to the likes of Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw. The latter got his opportunity and took it with both hands as he registered scores of 134, 70 and 33* in the two test matches. Middle-order batsman Pant struck a couple of 92s in quick time to continue his sublime form.

Both the new faces have announced themselves in splendid fashion. Moreover, they play a fearless brand of cricket, with positive intent and clean stroke-play. Their quick scoring rate drew many plaudits from fans, cricketers and analysts all around the world, including their captain.

After India's three-day, 10-wicket win on Sunday, Kohli said:

'We were looking at them playing with a lot of freedom, which they did. Prithvi was outstanding, Rishabh was really fearless. I am really happy that these guys have grabbed their chances.'

From the skipper’s perspective, it is important to start off a Test career on a high note. He continued:

'I know the conditions were not as challenging as they might get in future, but in Test cricket, the first and the most important thing is confidence and understanding that you can score runs at the Test level. From that point of view, (I'm) very happy that these guys have taken their chance so well.'

Pant has been rewarded for his power hitting and variety of shots with a call-up for the first two One-day Internationals against the men from the Caribbean. The first of five ODIs is scheduled to begin on 21 October. The Test tour of Australia will commence on the 6^th of December.