'He is very, very destructive': Virat Kohli backs young Prithvi Shaw ahead of second Test

Indian skipper Virat Kohli exuded confidence in Prithvi Shaw after the Mumbai-lad failed to impress in the first Test against New Zealand at Wellington. Shaw, who was in contention to replace injured Rohit Sharma, was picked over India A skipper Shubman Gill to open alongside Mayank Agarwal. However, Shaw could only manage to score 16 in the first innings and 14 in the second innings. 

Ahead of the second Test on Saturday, skipper Kohli backed the young man as he said, “It is just a matter of understanding the pace of the wicket and conditions as soon as possible. Again, when he (Prithvi) 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 mindset can shift very quickly.”

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Kohli added that the team needs to give Shaw some time to get used to the conditions and once he starts scoring, he will feel more confident about. Furthermore, the skipper also highlighted that there is no need to sit down and discuss what is going wrong because in his opinion nothing is wrong, it is just the execution of things that wasn't there.

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'No shame and harm in accepting the defeat': Virat Kohli

Earlier, after the loss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli had said that there is no shame and harm in accepting the defeat and added that the team will come out much better in the next game after accepting this loss.

"We have to understand that we were not at our best in the game and there is no shame and harm in accepting that. Only when we accept this, we will come out in the next game with a much better mindset and much better competitiveness that we have shown as a team. That is the representation of the Test team," he said. 

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India look to bounce back

As New Zealand has already drawn first blood, Team India would settle for nothing less than a win when both the teams lock horns in the second and final Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on February 29. It is a must-win contest for the top-ranked side as a stalemate or even a washout would mean that they end up losing the series. Meanwhile, the hosts would be looking to add insult to injury by coming out on top once again. 

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