Prithvi Shaw recently hogged the headlines after being left out of Mumbai’s squad for the Ranji Trophy fixture against Tripura.
While the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) didn't explain the reason behind his snub, multiple reports claimed that the 24-year-old lost his spot in state team on disciplinary grounds, including not taking nets practice and being overweight.
Apparently, Shaw’s body contains 35 percent fat and he needs rigorous training before regaining his place in the side.
Amid the scrutiny, Prithvi Shaw has found some sort of backing from none other than the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.
According to Gavaskar, weight should not be the criteria behind a cricketer's exclusion, let alone when a player is of Shaw's calibre.
"Speaking of domestic matches, defending Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai have dropped Prithvi Shaw from their team that is currently in Tripura. There have been mixed reports about his omission from the Ranji team. If it's about his attitude, approach and discipline, then it’s understandable, but hopefully, it has nothing to do with his weight, as one report seems to have suggested. That report suggested that he had 35 per cent more body fat," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
The 75-year-old also cited the example of Sarfaraz Khan, who is not the leanest of players around but shined for India with a blistering knock of 150 in the second innings of Bengaluru Test against New Zealand.
"We have seen in the previous Test in Bengaluru how another player Sarfaraz Khan, whose weight and shape have also been discussed in the public domain, played a scintillating innings of 150, showing that it is not the shape or the size of your waist that determines cricket fitness. It's whether you can score 150-plus runs and that too bat for a whole day or bowl 20-plus overs in a day. That should be the only criteria of a player’s fitness. By the way, how many players with zero per cent or minimal body fat have scored 379 like Prithvi Shaw? I rest my case about fitness," he added.
Having last played for India in July 2021, Prithvi Shaw is nowhere in contention to play for the country anytime again. He is likely to be released by Delhi Capitals ahead of the IPL 2025 player auction as well.
