As the Indian cricket team is gearing up for the World Test Championship (WTC) and the England series after, one question that bothered fans was the exclusion of Prithvi Shaw.
After showcased an impressive performance in IPL 2021 the aggressive opener has been left out from the WTC squad. Later it is revealed that owing to his fitness issue the 21 year old batsman has been dropped out of the long format squad.
Prithvi Shaw misses WTC
A report in TOI says Shaw is slow between the wickets and still has weight issues. A selector has also asked the Mumbaikar to learn from Rishabh Pant who had his own issues once.
“Prithvi is still very slow across the turf for a 21-year-old. He needs to shed a few more kilos. He also had concentration issues while fielding in Australia. Shaw has been working hard since he returned from Australia. He has the example of Rishabh Pant right in front of him. If Pant can turn things around in a few months, Prithvi too can do it,” the BCCI source was quoted as saying.
He was also told to be a bit consistent and sustain the form in a couple of series as he has often failed to justify the faith shown in him by the selectors.
“He has to sustain this form for a few more tournaments. He has often been picked on the basis of one good series and then he has struggled in international cricket, He is too good a player to be ignored for long,” the source added.
Sarandip Singh Backs Shaw
Former selector Sarandip Singh has said that the management must back the 21-year-old as he has the potential to be someone like Virender Sehwag.
“He has the potential to do what Sehwag did for India. You can’t sideline him so early in his career. He has scored tons of runs in domestic cricket after being dropped post the Australia tour. He has corrected his technical flaws also, and look how he played in the IPL,” Sarandeep told PTI.
India’s squad for WTC Final and England Tests
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).
Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla.
