Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari thrilled after national selection

Bengaluru, August 23: The Indian selectors announced the squad for the remaining two Test matches against England at Southampton and at The Oval on Wednesday (August 22), picking prolific Prithvi Shaw and Gade Hanuma Vihari in place of M Vijay and Kuldeep Yadav. Now, the two youngsters are thrilled with the national call-up and ready to perform should they get a chance.

"It's certainly a good feeling to get included in the national team as it's a recognition of the hard work and runs I have scored in the domestic cricket. I really have not thought about getting a place in the starting 11 but I am mentally ready for the challenge because of the time I spent in the Ranji Trophy as well as with the India A," Shaw told MyKhel before leaving to England for the last two Tests to be held at the Aegeas Bowl and the Kennington Oval.

Shaw, 18, has played 14 First-Class games for Mumbai scoring 1418 runs at 56.72 with seven hundreds and five fifties. On the other hand, Hanuma Vihari, 24, has been playing in the domestic circuit for a while now and has made 5142 runs from 63 First-Class matches at 59.79 - the highest average among active domestic circuit players.

Indian team for 4th and 5th Test against England announced.

Virat Kohli (C), Dhawan, Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Pujara, Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ashwin, Jadeja, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hanuma Vihari pic.twitter.com/bICu1ef9Co

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 22, 2018

"It's indeed a surreal moment for me and my family. I have been scoring runs in domestic cricket over the last few years but have not really expected this call up. But I am ready for the challenge," said Vihari.

The prospect of playing alongside Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara excited him. "It will be great to be part of a side that has such quality players and hopefully I can learn more from them even just watching them at nets and on the field. Of course, I have played in England as part of India A before and that experience will stand in stead for me," said Vihari, who now plays for Andhra in domestic cricket.

Among all this. Mayank Agarwal, who made upwards of 2000 runs in domestic cricket across the format last year and has been in good touch for India in the last couple of months, will have to wait for his turn to get his India cap. "I feel the selection of Shaw and Vihari came at the right time as they have been consistent in domestic cricket. As far as Mayank is concerned, he too is certainly in the mix," said MSK Prasad, the chief selector.