The Indian limited-overs squads for the series against Sri Lanka were announced on Tuesday, with Hardik Pandya being appointed as the captain of the T20I side. While Rohit Sharma will be making a comeback in the ODI series, none of the top-3 – Rohit, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul – were in the T20I squad. While Rishabh Pant has also been dropped from both squads, one name that continues to remain absent from the international setup is that of Prithvi Shaw.
Prithvi Shaw last played for India in a T20I against Sri Lanka in July 2021; the young opener has since produced consistent outings in domestic cricket for Mumbai. In IPL 2022, Shaw displayed his explosive caliber, scoring 283 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 152.97 for the Delhi Capitals.
ALSO READ: Harsha Bhogle Feels Rishabh Pant Being Dropped From ODI And T20Is Was Inevitable
The doors for an international comeback remained closed for Prithvi Shaw, however, and after the youngster remains absent from the Indian squad again, he opted to share a cryptic story on his official Instagram profile. The story contained an Instagram reel that had a shayari (poetry) from Uzair Hijazi; “Kisi ne muft me paa liya vo shakhs, jo mujhe har keemat pe chahiye tha (Rough translation: The one I needed the most, someone got them for free).
Look at the prithvi shaw insta story#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/Xq6NGvgJcG
— memes_hallabol (@memes_hallabol) December 28, 2022
Here’s how fans reacted to the cryptic story of Prithvi Shaw:
Prithvi Shaw removed his insta dp😿
— VK (@goat18fc) December 28, 2022
Prithvi Shaw ke India selection ki baat karte the kuch time pehle tak.
Filhaal usse psychiatrist ki zarurat hai.
Go through his IG stories.— S.R. (@SR_9220) December 28, 2022
Prithvi Shaw's latest IG story:
"Kisine muft me paa liya wo shaqs
Jo mujhe har keemat me chahiye tha!"Indirectly targeting Gill here
— Rᴀɪᴋᴀᴛ (@OverMidWicket) December 28, 2022
Us Prithvi Bhai 🥲
Clip – @PrithviShaw Insta Story#PrithviShaw #INDvSL#BCCISelectionCommittee #BCCI #indvssl #shaw #HardikPandya #ShikharDhawan pic.twitter.com/XjlplMTdXb— Kartikey Tripathi (@kartike48655021) December 27, 2022
India will host Sri Lanka for three T20Is and as many ODIs scheduled to be commencing on January 3, with Hardik Pandya reprising his role as T20 captain for a second straight series – he had earlier led India to a series win over New Zealand in November.
ALSO READ: Hardik Pandya And Rohit Sharma To Lead India In T20Is And ODIs Against Sri Lanka
Hardik Pandya will also serve as deputy skipper under Rohit Sharma for the ODI series. KL Rahul earlier served as Rohit’s deputy in the format. In addition, Shikhar Dhawan, who had led the Indian team in the side’s ODI series against New Zealand in November, lost his place in the squad. Rohit missed this month’s Test series against Bangladesh after sustaining a blow to the thumb during the preceding ODI matches.
