India vs West Indies: Prithvi Shaw to debut in Rajkot, to open with KL Rahul

Agencies
October 3, 2018

Rajkot, Oct 3: Teenage prodigy Prithvi Shaw is set to open alongside KL Rahul in the first Test against the West Indies after India on Wednesday started the practice of naming their final 12 before the start of every game.

The move of naming the final 12 ahead of the game has more or less settled the debate on the playing eleven.

Shaw, who earned a maiden call-up midway into the England tour but did not get a game, has been preferred over Mayank Agarwal for the series opener.

Agarwal had broken into the team after scoring tons of runs in domestic cricket and at India A level.

What is also clear now is that India will go in with five specialist bowlers and the most likely 12th man will be Shardul Thakur.

Three specialist spinners -- Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav -- have been picked and the pace pairing will be of Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav.

Hanuma Vihari, who had a made gritty 56 on debut at The Oval against England, has been dropped.

Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant will bat at six while Jadeja will be expected to make vital lower-order contributions in the absence of injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

The West Indies series presents a good opportunity for Shaw to make his case for the upcoming Australia tour as pointed out by captain Virat Kohli, who said the top-order is the only area where experimentation is needed.

It will be a dream come true for Shaw when he walks out to bat here.

The 18-year-old's India debut will hardly be a surprise to those who felt the supremely talented batsman was destined to play for the country ever since he started scoring a bagful of runs in school cricket in Mumbai.

And when Shaw led the India U-19 to the World Cup title in New Zealand earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before he graduated to the highest level.

Another strong indicator of his rare talent is his first-class record.

In 14 games, he averages 56.72 and has made seven hundreds and five half-centuries including a ton on Ranji Trophy debut in November 2016.

And almost a year later, he became the youngest to reach three figures on Duleep Trophy debut.

There was an intense debate on the opening combination going into the first Test since India had dropped Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan for young blood.

The picture on whether Shaw or Agarwal will open alongside Rahul only became clear after Kohli's pre-match press conference here.

Both the uncapped openers had batted in the nets on Tuesday and even on Wednesday morning, the mystery remained as Shaw took gentle throwdowns.

Local hero Cheteshwar Pujara and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane spent the maximum time in the nets.

It all became clear with the announcement of final 12 as India took the cue from the likes of Australia, who name their final eleven before the start of the match.

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News Network
March 22,2024

IPL.jpg

The start of the world’s most lucrative cricket tournament in India is presenting investors with another big opportunity to cash in on the sport, months after the world’s most populous nation hosted the Cricket World Cup.

The eight-week long Indian Premier League begins March 22 for its 17th season. Since its inception, the fast-paced cricket tournament has become a corporate juggernaut to rival the National Football League in the US and the English Premier League in value.

Just as October’s Cricket World Cup boosted consumption in India for months, fans are expected to flock to restaurants, pubs and food delivery platforms over the duration of the tournament. This year’s IPL also coincides with general elections that will last for six weeks starting April 19, a period when companies are expecting higher food and drink sales as people flock to rallies and other events.

“There’s going to be a lot of spending,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. “IPL, as well as the election, gives a three-month corridor with enhanced economic activity.”

Stocks in India such as McDonald’s franchise operator Westlife Foodworld Ltd. and peer Sapphire Foods India Ltd. gained ahead of the first match on Friday, as well as hotels and beverage makers. Packaged-food companies could also stand to benefit from the IPL craze, said Sachil Bobade, an analyst at investment firm Dolat Capital Market.

The IPL ecosystem was valued at $11 billion (Rs 91,721 crores) in 2023, including the value of media rights and sponsorships, according to Indian valuation consulting firm D&P Advisory.

The league is also attracting record sums of money from sponsors and broadcasters. Conglomerate Tata Group won the title sponsorship rights of the tournament in January for a record 25 billion rupees ($300 million). Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s media venture secured the digital streaming rights in 2022 for five years for $2.7 billion, while Walt Disney Co. paid roughly the same for TV rights.

“There was a serious amount of bidding even this year,” said Vinit Karnik, head of entertainment, esports and sports at media agency GroupM South Asia. “I see growth in IPL in double digits year-on-year,” he adds.

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