Prithvi Shaw would've been licking his lips at the prospect of an overdue return to the national side until the BCCI on Friday picked a 20-member squad for a four-month long tour comprising WTC final against New Zealand and a five-Test series against England.
While Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, and Mohammed Shami made a return to the Test fold, names like Shaw, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, and Navdeep Saini didn't find a place in the set-up.
Shaw, who found his mojo in the IPL 2021 after a forgettable Australia tour, was not selected to join the opening troika of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Mayank Agarwal. Shaw played only one Test in Australia and was dropped for lack of form and was eventually replaced by Gill.
According to reports, 21-year-old Shaw has been asked to lose a 'few more kilos' before returning to the national team. Earlier, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was also told to lose a bit of weight and work on his keeping.
“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,” a BCCI source told the Times of India.
Shaw has been in terrific form lately. After scoring over 800 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy, the Mumbaikar scored 308 runs in the now-suspended IPL 2021.
“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.
The England series will start at Nottingham (Aug 4-8) and will be followed by matches at Lord's (August 12-16), Leeds (Aug 25-29), Oval (Sep 2-6), and Manchester (Sep 10-14). Prior to the five-Test series, India will take on New Zealand in the much-awaited final of the ICC World Test Championship starting June 18.
