Prithvi Shaw had something special as a little boy, says Sachin Tendulkar

The Master Blaster has discerned immense potential among young cricketers Shaw and Gill. He recalled having seen Shaw in the nets when the latter was young and he knew that the 2018 U-19 World Cup-winning captain had something special in him already, when he was a boy.

Both Shaw and Gill were India’s young and talented heroes from the 2018 U-19 World Cup. While Shaw made the test debut against the Windies last year, Gill got his maiden call-up to the ODIs against New Zealand and played for India at No.3 in the absence of Virat Kohli. 

“I’ve spoken about Prithvi earlier as well, having watched him bat in the nets as a little boy, all of 8-9 years of age, he had something special even back then. I knew instantly that he would play for India,” Tendulkar told TOI.

Shaw has already played two Tests in India and has hit a century and a half-century as well. On the other hand, Gill did not have a dream start as he might have expected but he has scored a massive 728 runs from five games for Punjab in Ranji Trophy 2018-19.

“Shubman also played a crucial role in last year’s U-19 World Cup and has had a good domestic season, so both of them have a lot of potential. Having said that, these boys have just started playing for India and they should enjoy their cricket,” Tendulkar said.

The Mumbai opener was forced to miss the Test series against Australia due to an ankle injury that he had picked up during the warm-up tie before the start of the series and is set to play for Delhi Capitals in the upcoming Indian Premier League. The Punjab batsman Gill is currently with the Indian team in New Zealand for the T20 Internationals and is a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team for IPL.