Battle Of The Youngsters: Shaw Against Padikkal In Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 Semi-Final

The quality of the men's Indian domestic cricket set up is evident by the fact that two youngsters, fighting for a place in the national team, will be up against each other in a semi-final clash. 

Mumbai will be facing Karnataka in the 2nd semi-final of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021. But more importantly, it will be Prithvi Shaw against Devdutt Padikkal. 

Both young openers, of similar age groups, are already on the radar of Indian selectors for a place in the Indian ODI setup. Though Shaw is a familiar face in the Indian camp in the last three years, Padikkal has come out of the ranks after a highly impressive IPL 2020 under Virat Kohli. Since then, the left-handed opener has been fast-forwarded in the domestic circuit. 

Devdutt Padikkal has scored 673 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 including four consecutive hundreds to become the first Indian to achieve this feat. He will be hoping that Indian selectors will consider him for the upcoming ODI series against England later this month. 

Prithvi Shaw, too, is on a spree of a run-fest in the tournament. He has smashed three centuries, including a double-ton, breaking two major Indian records - highest individual score in Vijay Hazare Trophy and the highest individual score while chasing in List A cricket in India surpassing the likes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. 

Shaw has a similar yet slightly different objective as he steps on the field to lead Mumbai. The right-handed opener will be aiming to prove to Indian selectors that he is still worthy after being dropped from the team due to his poor run in international cricket.

Whoever succeeds in the semi-finals, it is a win-win situation for Indian cricket that two youngsters are already fighting for a place in the national team. As the Indian captain, Virat Kohli had said "Our bench strength is extremely strong and that's a good sign for Indian cricket. When the transition happens, the standards won't fall,".