A day after Mumbai head coach Omkar Salvi hoped Prithvi Shaw will “peak at the right time”, the enigmatic opener was dropped by the Mumbai men’s senior selection committee for the Vijay Hazare Trophy – the domestic one-day championship – league stage, starting on December 23.
The names of Shaw, al-lrounder Shams Mulani and veteran Ajinkya Rahane – the Player of the Tournament in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – were found missing from the squad of 17 that was finalised by the selection committee chaired by Sanjay Patil.
With Rahane’s unavailability and Mumbai playing its league stage in a logistically convenient location, Ahmedabad, the selection committee has selected the squad for the first three games of the league stage.
“Rahane has asked for a break due to personal reasons. He will be in touch with us and the selectors about his availability for the latter stage,” Abhay Hadap, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) secretary who convened the selection committee meeting, told Sportstar on Tuesday. “The others are dropped.”
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Shaw has had a tumultuous last couple of months. He was dropped from Mumbai’s squad after the first three Ranji Trophy rounds on fitness and disciplinary grounds. He was then recalled for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the domestic T20 championship.
The opener suffered a huge setback when he remained unsold in the Indian Premier League’s Player Auction last month. Shaw tallied 197 runs in nine games at a strike rate of 156.34 during Mumbai’s triumphant T20 campaign.
On Monday night, soon after the squad’s return from Bengaluru, Salvi had stressed that the MCA and the support staff have been helping Shaw in every way possible.
“The association has backed him well. Even though he was not part of the Ranji Trophy, the association took care of his practice, his fitness. There were routines given to him for the three weeks to be followed,” Salvi said.
“That was pretty much taken care of by the association and the coaches at the (MCA indoor) academy. We were all very involved in it. He came over there, he took that effort, he did his hard yards over there. He came over in T20s, from those preparations. He is building up well. He will peak at the right time. That’s what we expect.”
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