Ahead of the second T20I between India and South Africa at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the three-match ODI series that will be played after the shortest format contest.
With the T20 World Cup-bound players not selected as they leave for Australia a day after the T20I series ends, Shikhar Dhawan has been named captain of the second-string team with Shreyas Iyer selected as vice-captain. Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar and Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar have earned their maiden call-up to the national team.
While a lot of young players will get a chance, a notable exclusion is one of Prithvi Shaw. The Mumbai opening batter is widely regarded among the most talented youngsters in world cricket but continues to be ignored by the national selectors. Even with key members not available for selection, Shaw’s absence has left many perplexed.
The 22-year-old’s name was trending on Twitter just minutes after the squad was announced with Indian fans expressing their dismay at his absence from the squad and wondering what he had to do to earn a recall. Shaw had an impressive series for India A playing against New Zealand A in the 50-over format.
Shaw has played a total of 5 Tests, 6 ODIs and 1 T20I for the national team. The opening batter’s last outing for Team came in July 2021 during the white-ball series away to Sri Lanka. As far as list A cricket is concerned, Shaw has a phenomenal record that has seen score 2410 runs in 46 games at an average of 56.04 and strike-rate of 125.19.
Shaw had made a phenomenal start to his international career with a century on his Test debut against West Indies in 2018 but since an injury on the tour to Australia that year has struggled to get chances.
