Firspost Spodcast Episode 75: Sachin Tendulkar's comments on Prithvi Shaw, Subhankar Dey's win over Lin Dan and more on our daily podcast

Welcome to Spodcast, the sports update on Firstpost. First up, an interview with the little master Sachin Tendulkar. It has been 27 years since a prodigious talent by the name of Sachin Tendulkar strode out to the centre of the Sydney Cricket Ground and put on a batting display that would mark the start of something special. He followed that up with a century at the WACA - the so called graveyard of visiting teams - that prompted Merv Hughes, the burly Australian bowler with the handlebar moustache, to throw some snark at his captain Allan Border: “This little prick’s going to get more runs than you, AB.” Which he did. In 2018, we might be witnessing the coming of age of another similarly talented youngster - Prithvi Shaw. Moreover, Tendulkar, in an interaction with Firstpost, said that Shaw is ready to handle the test of skills and temperament that is the Australian tour. India thrashed West Indies by nine wickets in the fifth ODI yesterday at Thiruvananthapuram to win the series 3-1 in emphatic fashion. It was another clinical performance by India as they dismissed the hapless West Indian batting line-up for an under par 104 runs. The Windies batsman struggled against all the Indian bowlers and were all out in just the 32nd over. Ravindra Jadeja was particularly effective, taking four wickets. India then finished the chase in under 15 overs, with Rohit Sharma playing freely to bring up yet another half century. Virat Kohli said that MS Dhoni was excluded from the T20I squad because the former captain wanted to make room for India’s new wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant. Kohli also brushed aside all talk of Dhoni’s T20I career ending, saying the former captain remains an integral member of the team in limited-overs. The selection panel had announced the squads for the T20Is against West Indies and Australia, and Dhoni’s exclusion from the squad surprised many. Rishabh Pant has been included in the two squads, with Dinesh Karthik as back up. Novak Djokovic, who is now the number one-ranked player in the ATP, defeated Damir Dzumhur in the round of 16 of the Paris Masters to take his tally of consecutive sets won to 30. His previous best was 29 straight sets won across different matches. Djokovic will go up against Marin Cilic in the last eight on Friday. If Cilic defeats Novak, he will qualify for the ATP Finals tournament in London next month. Meanwhile, Djokovic gained the top ranking after Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Paris Masters following medical advice. In badminton news, Subhankar Dey, ranked 64 in the world, inflicted a shock defeat on World and Olympic champion Lin Dan to qualify for the quarter-finals of the SaarLorLux Open Badminton Championship on Thursday. Dey defeated Lin Dan in straight games 22-20, 21-19 in just 45 minutes. Lin Dan, who is nearing the twilight of his career, was the top seed at the tournament. Two weeks ago, he lost to Kidambi Srikanth at the Denmark Open. Dey will next face off against seventh seed Toby Penty of England.