Prithvi Shaw, having made a comeback from an eight-month doping ban, resumed his first-class career with a solid half-century (66) in the opening round of the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 against Baroda at Reliance Stadium in Vadodara.
Shaw made his Test debut last year, scoring a ton in Rajkot against West Indies but couldn't then play the next series in Australia as he picked up an injury to his knee in a warm-up game in Sydney before the first Test.
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He subsequently missed the Tests in West Indies and the home series against South Africa and Bangladesh because of his ban. And while Shaw was away, Mayank Agarwal cemented his place in the side at the top of the order with fantastic performances down under and a couple of double centuries in the home season, and Rohit Sharma joined him successfully after KL Rahul's lacklustre form saw him fell out of the selectors' favour.
This has made the ongoing Ranji season doubly important ahead of the two-match Test series in New Zealand in February-March with quite a few batsmen, including Shaw and his other major rivals Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran apart from Rahul, eyeing the third opener's slot, a final decision on which could be taken after further examination on the shadow "A" tour to the Kiwiland in January.
"The selection committee is of the view that it’s better that Test specialists travel early to get used to conditions. It will help them get enough practice," a BCCI source close to the matter told The Indian Express.
Shaw, on his part, is focused primarily on the process of fine-tuning his game and scoring runs. "I will just keep scoring runs. It is all about the selectors and what they think. My job is to score runs and win games for the team," he said.
"I had never thought that something like this(ban) would happen. I was obviously upset. For the first 20-25 days after I was banned, I was not able to understand how did it happen. Time passed by. I went to London and chilled out there as I was not allowed to practise till September 15."
"After that, I stabilised myself and kept myself mentally stronger by telling myself these three months would pass. But each day was hard, it was getting longer. It’s all past now."
"I think this period has been a big learning experience for me. Obviously, I committed a mistake. I had no idea what I was consuming," Shaw added.
"In that period I was alone and was trying to stay away from people and their advice. I was telling myself that I can get out of this mess and be mentally strong."
(Inputs from Indian Express)
