Young Indian opener Prithvi Shaw has been asked to reduce his weight by the selectors as the reports suggested.
BCCI on Friday (7th May) announced the 20-member squad for the World Test Championship final and the five-Test series against England post that.
With the likes of Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar not featuring in the squad, another name's absence that surprised everyone was Prithvi Shaw.
Prithvi Shaw shouldn't have been dropped after Adelaide Test, says Ashish Nehra
The 21-year-old was in red hot form in now postponed IPL 2021, where he amassed 308 runs in eight games at a blistering strike rate of 166 and many fans and pundits feel that his recent form should have earned him a place in the Indian Test squad.
However, a report in Times of India, said that BCCI while citing the example of Rishabh Pant, who turned around things in few months, have told Prithvi Shaw to work on his fitness and reduce his weight.
“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 TOI.
The source said that Shaw needs to be a bit more 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 based on one good series and then he has struggled in international cricket, He is too good a player to be ignored for long,” he said.
Prithvi Shaw has been in red hot form since returning from the disastrous tour of Australia, after which he was dropped from the Indian squad.
He broke several records in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where he amassed 827 runs in eight games, becoming the first player to breach the 800-run mark in a single edition of the 50-over domestic tournament and was instrumental in giving flying starts to the Delhi Capitals in IPL 14.
(Times of India inputs)
