After a long wait of almost 2 years, Prithvi Shaw made a comeback to the Indian team. He was selected in the side for the home series against New Zealand in the shortest format. But despite the form, the 23-year-old was seen warming the bench through the three-match contest with India backing his U-19 World Cup teammate Shubman Gill.
A month since the end of that series, which the Indian team won by a margin of 2-1, Shaw opened up on the selection snub by the Indian team management. Shaw made a comeback to the Indian side on the back of his impressive form in domestic cricket where he scored 363 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022 before notching up a masterful 379 in a Ranji Trophy game.
However, India skipper Hardik Pandya and head coach Rahul Dravid backed Gill, who scored a thundering 126* in the final tie in Ahmedabad. Speaking to News24 Sports, Shaw admitted that the return to the Indian team mattered to him more than the chance in the playing XI.
Talking about the same, as per the quotes in Hindustan Times, Prithvi Shaw said, “I felt really nice coming back into the T20I squad, to meet the players and train with them. I enjoyed that bit. Yes I did not get an opportunity but was given the chance of making a comeback, that mattered.”
#PrithviShaw finally opens up over his absence in playing XI against #NewZealand
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— DNA (@dna) March 6, 2023
He further added, “It all depended on them, when to play when not to, but I respected that because probably they wanted to give the person before me a bit longer run. But again, I don’t regret that. I will keep on looking for opportunities because I have a list of goals I want to achieve with the Indian team.”
When further asked why he felt it took time for him to make this comeback, Prithvi Shaw explained: “I kept on scoring runs. I felt if that was not enough then I have to score more and more…then I scored 379. It was just my day and felt I will not let go of this opportunity. Sometimes it just tends to hit you that why I am not in the Indian team for so long despite all the efforts…but it’s never too late.”
