Prithvi Shaw dropped from Mumbai's Vijay Hazare squad, player asks 'what more do I have to see?'
New Delhi, Dec 17: Out-of-favour India opener Prithvi Shaw was on Tuesday dropped from Mumbai's squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy as his fortunes continued to nosedive, forcing the beleaguered player to ask "what more do I have to see?"
The tournament begins on December 21.
The 25-year-old, who was once hailed as a generational talent and scored a hundred on Test debut, has had a season to forget.
He was dropped in the middle of Ranji Trophy league stage on fitness and disciplinary grounds, before returning for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) that Mumbai won. He also went unsold at the IPL auction in November.
His performance in the premier domestic event was not eye-catching but he did make a couple of 40s and as many 30s over the course of the event.
"Tell me God, what more do I have to see? If 65 innings, 3399 runs at an average of 55.7 with a strike rate of 126 (in Vijay Hazare), I'm not good enough. But I will keep my faith in you and, hopefully, people still believe in me, because I will come back for sure. Om Sai Ram," Shaw wrote in his Instagram story.
Shreyas Iyer will captain the 17-man squad picked for the first three games. Following the SMAT, Iyer had said sky was the limit for Shaw if he worked on his work ethics.
Ajinkya Rahane, who was the star batter for Mumbai in SMAT, had captained the 50-over side last season. Veteran spinner Shams Mulani also doesn't feature in the squad alongside Shaw.
India T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav is also part of the side.
Mumbai open their campaign against Karnataka in Ahmedabad on December 21.
Squad: Shreyas lyer (Captain), Ayush Mhatre, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Jay Bista, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Siddhesh Lad, Hardik Tamore, Prasad Pawar (WK), Atharva Ankolekar, Tanush Kotian, Shardul Thakur, Royston Dias, Juned Khan, Harsh Tanna, Vinayak Bhor.
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After Gambhir's one-on-one chat session, Morkel says Abhishek "one good hit away" from finding form
Ahmedabad (PTI): All that Abhishek Sharma needs is a start, but there hasn't been any discussion about the talented opener's wretched run in the T20 World Cup so far, bowling coach Morne Morkel said ahead of India's first Super Eights game against South Africa here on Sunday.
Abhishek is yet to open his account in the current edition of the tournament and during Friday's training, he was seen spending considerable time with head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Gambhir was seen trying to explain to him certain finer points and like a diligent student, the flamboyant southpaw nodded in agreement.
After that he went for a high catch session.
At times, excess training can prove to be counter productive and Abhishek was seen bowling to the other batters for better part of the game.
When asked if there's discussion in general within the team on Abhishek, Morkel denied emphatically.
"Absolutely no discussion. He's a world class player. So far in the tournament, luckily, there's been some guys standing up for Abhishek (others scoring runs)," Morkel told the media.
However, he agreed that Abhishek needs to score runs as they enter the business end of the tourney.
"But we're going through a very important phase of the World Cup now and we expect him to do well.
"And I'm pretty sure, not just for the team, but also for all the viewers watching the game. Because he's (Abhishek) entertaining, and we love to see that.
"So yeah, I'm pretty sure he's hitting the ball well. It's just a matter of getting that start and Abhishek will get going," Morkel said.
