Prithvi Shaw, Ravi, Bishnoi, Umesh Yadav, Nitish Rana did not find a place in any of the white-ball white-ball squads announced by BCCI cheif selector Chetan Sharma for the New Zealand and Bangladesh tours. The cricketers took to Instagram to share cryptic messages.
Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan and Ravi Bishnoi were the biggest surprising omissions in India’s white-ball squads for the tour of New Zealand in November and the Bangladesh ODI and Test tour in December. Shaw, who has set the Indian domestic circuit on fire with impressive performances, surprisingly, did not find a place in any of the three-white-ball squads that were announced on Monday – the T20I and ODI teams in New Zealand and the ODI setup against Bangladesh.
Bishnoi, who had been fairly regulary in the T20I set-up and is in fact among the standby players for the T20 World Cup, was surprisingly not included in any of the teams.
Reacting to the news, Shaw, Bishnoi and two other Indian cricketers Nitish Rana and Umesh Yadav, who too did not find a place in the white-ball squads shared emotional-yet-cryptic stories on Instagram. “Hope you are watching everything Sai Baba,” Shaw captioned it.
“Comeback is always stronger than setback,” read Bishnoi’s story.
Umesh Yadav, who had made a comeback in the T20I set-up after more than three years during the home series against Australia as the replacement of a Covid-positive Mohammed Shami, was once again selected only for the Test series in Bangladesh. “May be you can fool me but God is watching you mind that,” he wrote on his Instagram story.
Delhi cricketer Nitish Rana, who had made his India debut in Sri Lanka last year and has been in pretty good form in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, wrote: “H= Hold, O= On, P= Pain, E= Ends.”
Shaw, who has been criticised for his form and fitness, saw his campaign fall off tracks when he caught typhoid while playing for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022, began his way back to the top in the Ranji Trophy as captain of Mumbai.
In September, he scored a much-awaited century when he slammed 113 off 121 balls for West Zone against East Zone in the Duleep Trophy opener in Chennai. Later that month, Shaw sizzled once again scoring a fine 77 for India A against New Zealand A. He built on it with scores of 60 and 142 against Central Zone as West Zone claimed the match by 79 runs. Shaw continued his sizzling form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, as his 134-run blitzkrieg helped Mumbai down Assam, to go with another wonderful knock of 55 not out against Mizoram.
This was the first time that Shaw made news since having last played for India in July of 2021. He was part of India’s white-ball squads that toured Sri Lanka but failed to create any impact. Shaw’s debut dates back to October of 2018, when he became the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut. Back then, it seemed as if this was the start of a what would turn out to be a phenomenal career for the youngster, and Shaw was even rewarded with a place in India’s squad for the tour of Australia. But an ankle injury put paid to Shaw’s plans and he was sidelined.
