Cricket News Today:  Ishant Sharma likely to miss Christchurch Test, Glenn McGrath believes Brian Lara was slightly harder to bowl to than Sachin Tendulkar and more - 28th February 2020

#3 Kohli backs Shaw despite the opener's unimpressive performance

Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw has got the backing of Indian skipper Virat Kohli after a string of unimpressive performances which brought him under the scanner. Shaw scored a total of 30 runs in the first match in Wellington which the visitors lost by 10 wickets.

Kohli stated that Shaw was as destructive a batsman as one would come across in international cricket but he needed to be crystal clear psychologically before he can score runs. Speaking ahead of the second Test in Christchurch tomorrow, Kohli explained that Shaw was a natural striker of the ball and knew how to score runs against all odds, but needed time at the international stage to prove his worth.

#TeamIndia covered all bases at the training session at the Hagley Oval ahead of the 2nd and final Test against New Zealand.#NZvIND pic.twitter.com/AxIRVayQKL

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 27, 2020

"It is just a matter of understanding the pace of the wicket and conditions as soon as possible. Again, when he (Shaw) is in a clear frame of mind, he is very, very destructive. Once he feels that he can do it, I think it will be a different ball game. The mind set can shift very quickly. We need to give him that time to get used to the conditions a little bit and once he starts scoring, he will feel more confident about it."

"He (Shaw) will figure out. He will find ways to score runs because he is a natural stroke-player and he scores runs. It is not that he gets small runs (when he gets them). He gets big runs and knows how to get runs."

Full article: New Zealand vs India 2020: Virat Kohli backs Prithvi Shaw despite the opener's unimpressive performance in the 1st Test