Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has urged people not to compare teenage sensation Prithvi Shaw with the swashbuckling batsman Virender Sehwag.

After Prithvi Shaw’s brilliant century against the West Indies in his debut match, comparisons were being drawn between Virender Sehwag and the Mumbai batsman. Gambhir also said that the ICC World Number One ranked team India won’t have it easy on their Australia tour at the year-end.

After the conclusion of the West Indies tour, India will travel Down Under to play four Tests besides limited-overs games. Virat Kohli-led India will hope to make amends, having lost their last two Test series in South Africa and England.

“Whoever is comparing (Prithvi with Sehwag) needs to think twice before comparing. Ultimately you should not compare anyone to anyone. He (Shaw) has just started his career and there is a long way to go. I have never believed in comparisons,” Gambhir said at a promotional event of ‘Vicks’ on Wednesday.

He added, “He (Shaw) has got his own individuality and Sehwag had his own individuality. He (Shaw) has just started his career and someone like Sehwag has played 100 Test matches.”

Gambhir further said he hoped the new opening duo of KL Rahul and Shaw along with uncapped Mayank Agarwal, who is in contention for the opening position, will set the tone for the team.

“It is important for any opening batsman to succeed in Australia because that is where India struggled in England because there were not good enough partnerships. If you want to succeed overseas or anywhere, you need a good platform,” Gambhir said.

Talking about India’s upcoming tour to Australia, Gambhir said, “England could manage to win in Australia (2010-11) because they went one month early. They played three or four warm-up matches,” adding, “If you are going overseas, your bowlers should have bowled 80 to 100 overs so your body gets used to it and your batters need runs under their belts. If you go to Australia and face Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, you have to be ready. They need to rectify mistakes made in England.”

“It’s got to be a challenge. We talk about the batting because they don’t have (Steve) Smith and (David) Warner. But they still have a formidable batting in their backyard. They have really exciting players like Shaun Marsh and Aaron Finch, plus they have the bowling attack to hurt any opposition. They have the best off-spinner (Nathan Lyon) in the world right now. It will not be a cakewalk. Playing Australia in Australia will be a threat,” Gambhir concluded.