NEW DELHI, Feb 1
Prithvi Shaw was a wonderful cricket story when he started out in the sport. He had taken the Mumbai cricket by storm in age-group cricket and was soon billed as the next ‘Sachin Tendulkar’. He led India to win at the Under-19 World Cup in 2018 in New Zealand and soon made his national debut. On Test debut vs West Indies the same year, he smashed a century, becoming the youngest batter to make a Test ton on debut at 18 years and 319 days. It seemed Shaw was here to stay and will go on to break many of the batting records.
But then came the downfall. Fitness concerns and lack of form resulted in Shaw losing his place in the national side. Two deliveries from Mitchell Starc put a halt on his international career on the tour of Australia in 2020-21. That was the Adelaide Test in which India got bowled out for just 36. From thereon, Shubman Gill took over and Shaw could not return to the same spot again. At least so far.
Today, Gill is going through a rough patch. He has not scored many runs in Tests in the last one year. His place is not secured. Shaw, who had injured himself in the County cricket last year, is set to return to Mumbai in their next fixture of Ranji Trophy.
If Shaw smashes a ton on his return, he will make a big statement with the bat. Shaw might be out of favour right now but he is never out of the news. He is still fanned and many former cricketers have not lost hope for his international return.
Shaw has had a rough time in his personal life with fights with a social media influencer and cryptic Instagram Stories in which ranted about his snub. But the cricketer should seize this moment and try to make as many runs in the Ranji Trophy as possible to break the door again.
Shaw was sidelined due to a knee ligament injury. Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) added him to the squad after National Cricket Academy (NCA) gave clearance to him.
Cricbuzz has quoted NCA’s message to MCA, stating, “Prithvi Shaw is progressing well in his batting and fielding drills. He will undergo higher volumes of acceleration, change of direction, and agility drills over the next 3 weeks to develop the required robustness for his injured knee ligament before making a return to sports.” Mumbai will be strengthened by Shaw’s arrival. They are currently leaders of Elite Group B Ranji points table with 20 points from four matches. They have won three games while losing one.
Mumbai squad: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Shivam Dube, Prithvi Shaw, Jay Bista, Bhupen Lalwani, Amogh Bhatkal. Suved Parkar, Prasad Pawar (WK), Hardik Tamore (WK), Suryansh Shedge, Tanush Kotian, Atharva Ankolekar, Aditya Dhumal, Mohit Awasthi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Roystan Dias and Sylvester Dsouza.
