India’s one of the top order batters, Prithvi Shaw, has been dropped from the Mumbai squad for the next Ranji Trophy match against Tripura owing to fitness and disciplinary issues, reported PTI.
According to details, the Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Tripura is scheduled to be played in Agartala from October 26 to 29.
Report states that Shaw does not regularly attend the team’s training sessions and has also appeared a ‘little overweight’.
“You have to look at his fitness and his running when he is on the field. The MCA has a rich history and there cannot be exceptions for a certain player,” an official from Mumbai Cricket Association told PTI.
The 24-year-old has not been in his ace form and scored 7, 12, 1 and 39 not out in the two rounds of Ranji Trophy.
The decision to drop Shaw was made by the Mumbai senior men’s selection panel, which cited his fitness and ‘general conduct’.
Shaw has been subject of controversy due to his fitness for a long time. Ahead of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL), he failed the mandatory Yo-Yo fitness test conducted by the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The minimum required score for male cricketers was 16.5, but Shaw’s score was less than 15, reported India Today.
Mumbai selectors have named 29-year-old left-handed opening batter Akhil Herwadkar as Shaw’s replacement for the Ranji Trophy match against Tripura. He has played 41 first-class matches and averages 36.51, with seven centuries and 10 fifties.
While looking at Shaw‘s stats, he played five Tests, six ODIs and one T20I for India.
Apart from this, Mumbai rested India’s T20I skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, for the Ranji Trophy. At that time, he would be preparing the national team as India was playing a four-match T20I series with South Africa from November 8 onwards.
Mumbai squad:
Ajinkya Rahane (c), Ayush Mhatre, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Siddhesh Lad, Suryansh Shedge, Hardik Tamore (wk), Sidhaant Addhatrao (wk), Shams Mulani, Karsh Kothari, Himanshu Singh, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Avasthi, Juned Khan, Royston Dias.