The Indian Cricket Board on Monday announced the squads for the upcoming tours of New Zealand and Bangladesh. Hardik Pandya will be leading the T20I squad in New Zealand while Shikhar Dhawan will captain the ODI team. Senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been rested from the New Zealand tour and will return to the team in Bangladesh. There was one notable omission from all the squads i.e of Prithvi Shaw who shared a cryptic story on his Instagram following his snub.
Shaw took to Instagram after the Indian Cricket Board officially announced the squad and shared a photograph of ‘Sai Baba’ and wrote ‘Hope you’re watching everything SAI BABA.’
Prithvi Shaw has been constantly overlooked by the national selectors despite his consistent performances in the domestic circuit. Earlier this month, the youngster grabbed headlines for scoring a 46-ball century against Assam in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022.
His knock powered Mumbai to a mammoth 230/3 which eventually helped the Ajinkya Rahane-led side come out on top by 61 runs. Despite that, he has once again been snubbed by the selectors as he patiently has to wait another day.
In fact, Shaw had also made it clear during one of his Instagram live sessions that he is simply tired of playing the waiting game. It so happened that when one of the fans asked the youngster when exactly he would be donning the India jersey again, a gutted Prithvi Shaw wrote, “Don’t know my friend’ indicating that he has lost his patience after repeatedly getting ignored even after showcasing outstanding performances.
Last month, India had fielded a second-string squad for the three-match ODI series against South Africa and even though many familiar faces along with uncapped players got a chance to feature in the Indian squad, Prithvi Shaw’s name was nowhere to be found on that list.
It now remains to be seen whether Prithvi makes his bat do the talking that he usually does and make a statement as the selection committee prepares a blueprint for the next year’s 50-overs World Cup. Shaw has not played for India since the white-ball series in Sri Lanka in July 2021.
Twitter was abuzz with reactions after Shaw’s exclusion from the squad. Here are some of the Tweets:
Pritvi Shaw ki technique hi galat hai
Sai Baba se nhi
Shah Baba @JayShah se dua mango— Vaibhav S Karde?? (@VaibhavSKarde1) October 31, 2022
Prithvi shaw must get a chance. He is fearless just like virendra sehwag. Other openers are tuk tuk players. We need a opener like sehwag . Prithvi shaw can fulfill that.
— Kangkan Dek (@DekKangkan) October 31, 2022
BCCI is underestimating Prithvi Shaw's talent for a player like KL Rahul.
— Udayaditya? (@RizingSun75) October 31, 2022
@PrithviShaw should Play for another country
& Humiliate @BCCI with performance
INDIA cant win single icc trophy with this vintage attitude… @JayShah @SushantNMehta @vikrantgupta73 https://t.co/29xpuMRgJ6
— TiLuck (@Queen4luck) October 31, 2022
Give chance to our little sehwag please. ? @PrithviShaw @BCCI
— Rajat Kashyap (@King18Vk) October 31, 2022
Prithvi = Earth
Not selecting him is ????? !!!#PrithviShaw pic.twitter.com/uTjpw0BIoY— Defective JK (@defectivejk) October 31, 2022
Far better than kl rahul i think fitness or so called yo yo test might be an issue with him
— Anuj Raniyal (@AnujRaniyal) October 31, 2022
It is seriously disgusting from selectors to still ignore @PrithviShaw in T20Is. He is easily in the Top 10 T20 batters in India. How does Gill make it ahead of him???? It is beyond me. Its ok. One day they will regret this ignorance #PrithviShaw
— A_U_S_T_I_N_P_O_W_E_R_S ? (@imaustindcunha) October 31, 2022
The current selection committee must be having something personal against Prithvi Shaw.
— CA Amit Dani (@amitdanilive) October 31, 2022
@PrithviShaw @DelhiCapitals
Instead of being emotional focus on getting DC win the title. That's is some in your hand….— Cyvilok (@Cyvilok1) October 31, 2022
Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw could have been ideal opening pair looking at the future but Gill over Prithvi is not understandable.
Also if Ishan opens here it'll be one the big disappointments looking at his recent performances and how he's struggled. https://t.co/285vB2QF2x— Vaibhav (@vaibhavdugar02) October 31, 2022
