Prithvi Shaw has been tipped as ‘very slow’ after being ignored for India’s upcoming tour of England. The 21-year-old has been asked to shed a few more kilos. A BCCI source said that the 21-year-old opening batsman needs to sustain his current form across a few tournaments before making a comeback to the national side.
The last few years have been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride for Prithvi Shaw. It’s been filled with massive highs and even greater lows. However, the 21-year-old dasher from Mumbai has found ways to bounce back strongly.
After the highs of 2018, where he led India to the Under-19 World Cup title and his magnificent Test debut against West Indies, he was injured in a practice game in Australia, which ruled him out of the tour, and he was banned after failing a doping test.
He did come back strongly and plundered runs in the domestic circuit in India before storming his way back to the Indian side. He made his debut in ODI cricket and returned to the Test fold as well. However, an indifferent 2020 IPL season and his technical deficiencies were found out in Australia in the 2020-21 season. Thus, he was dropped after the first Test and subsequently wasn’t picked for the Test series against England at home earlier this year.
The Mumbai-born opening batsman has now been ignored for the tour of England as well. Despite plundering runs in domestic cricket and the IPL and showing great signs of returning to his best, the selectors did not consider him as they picked the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul as the openers for the tour.
Moreover, a BCCI source said that the selectors have communicated to Shaw that he needs to lose a few more kilos of weight. He is very slow in the field for a 21-year-old and needs to get fitter.
“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 saying.
However, fitness aside, Shaw has been in red-hot form in the last few months. He made a stellar comeback after the Australia debacle as he smashed a record 827 runs at an average of 165.40 and a strike-rate of 138.29 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Those runs included four huge hundreds and a half-century as well. In the 2021 edition of the IPL, Shaw amassed 308 runs at an average of 38.50 while striking at 166.48 (Shaw hit three half-centuries as well). He was fourth on the list of most runs in the tournament before it got suspended.
Despite this splendid run of form, Shaw was couldn’t find a place in the 20-man Test squad or even the four reserves. The BCCI source felt that the 2018 Under-19 World Cup-winning skipper needs to carry this form for a few more tournaments before he makes a comeback in the Indian side. He has been picked after one good series often, and he ends up struggling.
“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 BCCI source further added.
