'Fully Fit' Shaw Eyeing Return at Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Cricketnext Staff | Updated: February 15, 2019, 2:40 PM IST

Having missed the entire Test series in Australia because of an unfortunate ankle injury, young Indian opener Prithvi Shaw has commenced batting in the nets and is targeting a return for Mumbai in the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy starting on February 21.

“I felt sad as it was a good opportunity for me to play the quality Australian bowling line-up. I was a bit upset. But some things aren’t in your hands. Now I’m looking forward to the Mushtaq Ali tournament to find my touch and gain some confidence back,” Shaw told the Indian Express.

India managed a Test series win for the first time Down Under and though their regular openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay struggled heavily, Mayank Agarwal came up with a couple of solid knocks in the last two Tests that he played.

Shaw would have featured in the first Test if he hadn't have twisted his ankle while attempting a catch in a practice match. Initial reports suggested that he would be fit for the second game, but Shaw was eventually sent back to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore to undergo a rehabilitation programme.

“My recovery was going fine, after the second Test they were trying for me to get fit but the pain had returned. Then it was decided that I should go to NCA and do my rehab in India instead of travelling with the Indian team,” he said.

“A few days after the injury, I felt the swelling and pain had reduced and I felt that I will recover normally for the second Test. I had begun to jog as well but I could feel the pain again. The pain was there even though the swelling had reduced."

Shaw said he was happy with the fact that he didn't have to go through surgery.

“There were two thoughts – whether I should go for surgery or I should take the normal course to recover. Luckily, there was no need for surgery and it took more than a month for me to be completely fit. I’m at the NCA for the last two months, trying hard to be fit. In the last two months, I went home just once,” he said.

It was only 10 days back that Shaw got the green signal from the NCA medical team but he has no plans of rushing himself back into competitive cricket.

“I started my batting only 10 days ago. The physios were in regular touch with the selectors and they were monitoring my progress. Two days back, they said I am fully fit.”

Shaw made his Test debut in October last year against Windies and got scores of 134, 70 and 34* in his first three innings.