WHY PRITHVI SHAW DESERVED TO BE CHOSEN FOR THE ENGLAND TOUR

Shaw’s exclusion from the squad for the England tour is nothing short of baffling. He did everything that a player is expected to do after being dropped. He came up with a record-breaking performance...

- RENIN WILBEN

The Indian cricket team for the World Test Championship (WTC) final as well as the Test series against England was announced recently. While most of the players picked themselves, there were a few notable exclusions. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was dropped, senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not chosen while young opener Prithvi Shaw too remained out of favour. Following his amazing performances with the bat in recent times, there were high chances of Shaw making a comeback. However, the selectors felt otherwise.

Shaw’s exclusion from the squad for the England tour is nothing short of baffling. He did everything that a player is expected to do after being dropped. He came up with a record-breaking performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, amassing 827 runs in eight innings at an exceptional average of 165.40 with four hundreds and one fifties and a best of 227 not out. He thus became the first player to breach the 800-run mark in a Vijay Hazare Trophy season.