Prithvi Shaw has been on a rampage since last year after being dropped from the Indian team. Despite his thunderous performances, the BCCI selectors have not selected him in the recent ODI series against South Africa where Shikhar Dhawan led a second-string unit to a 2-1 series win.
On Tuesday, once again the fans brought up the issue and slammed the BCCI after Prithvi Shaw smashed 55* off 34 balls in his first game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022 against Mizoram.
Mizoram had been restricted to only 98 in 20 overs courtesy of 2 wickets each for Dhawal Kulkarni, Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian.
With the net run rate of importance in such a T20 tournament, Prithvi Shaw came out and blasted a quick-fire half-century to gun down the target in 10.3 overs giving Mumbai an nrr boost. Shaw was on a roll during the powerplay, finding gaps with ease as he creamed 9 fours and 1 six (42 of his 55 runs came in boundaries!).
Fans on Twitter once again championed his cause and criticised the BCCI for ignoring such an incredibly talented batsman.
Here are some of the reactions:
Continuing his rich vain of form from longer to shorter format
Score runs runs runs and knock selectors door @PrithviShaw ❤️
— GCH (@cricguy18) October 11, 2022
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How much he need to prove yet? Why bcci ignoring him like he is not from ind?
— mr reverse sweep (@breaatherp17) October 11, 2022
Gill and Shaw opening in Champions trophy 2025
— CLUSTER (@LukaCluster) October 11, 2022
Exposing selectors / management mind🔥
— Harsh Gupta (@harshgupta16581) October 11, 2022
He has plundered huge runs in both red-ball and white-ball domestic cricket since last year, but still hasn’t been called up.
What more does Prithvi Shaw has to do?
The primary reason believes for Shaw’s exclusion has been his fitness. Recently, after not being picked for the South Africa ODI series, Shaw said he was disappointed before revealing that he’d worked hard on his fitness and lost 7-8 kgs of weight.
“I was disappointed. I am scoring runs, doing a lot of hard work, but not getting a chance. But, it’s alright. When they feel I am ready, they will play me. Whatever opportunities I get, whether it is for India ‘A’ or other teams, I will make sure I do my best and keep my fitness levels up to the mark,” Shaw was quoted as saying by kheltak.com.
“I did not work on different things in my batting but did a lot of fitness work. I worked on weight loss and reduced it by seven to eight kgs after the last IPL. I spent a lot of time in the gym, did a lot of running, and didn’t consume any sweets or cold drinks. Chinese food is totally out of my menu now,” Shaw revealed.
