Prithvi Shaw looked in fine touch as he warmed up for the Sri Lanka series with a blazing fifty during India's second intra-squad match. Sri Lanka Cricket shared a video of the young India opener smashing crisp fours and sixes against the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chetan Sakariya, Hardik Pandya and the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
The video began with Shaw fiercely cutting Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a boundary as the ball made a sweet sound off the bat. The next few seconds saw Shaw biding his time and being more focussed on piercing the gaps and taking singles. There was the odd mistimed stroke in between but for the better part of the video, Shaw was striking them neat and clean.
Also Read | Ashwin roars back with five-wicket haul in just 13 overs for Surrey
With the wicketkeeper standing up and batting to the spinners, Shaw looked to bring out his attacking game as he tried to clear the infield several time, succeeding at some. Once set, Shaw went effortlessly over the top and connected some lusty hits, mostly off spinners. A shot towards sweeper cover boundary off the bowling off Kuldeep brought up his half-century as he punched glove with batting partner Manish Pandey.
While Devdutt Padikkal is part of India’s limited-overs squad, it is likely that Shaw will open the innings with captain Shikhar Dhawan. The Sri Lanka series holds plenty of significance for the 21-year-old, who last played for India in the first Test against Australia last December, where he was dismissed cheaply for a duck and 2 in the two innings.
{{/usCountry}}While Devdutt Padikkal is part of India’s limited-overs squad, it is likely that Shaw will open the innings with captain Shikhar Dhawan. The Sri Lanka series holds plenty of significance for the 21-year-old, who last played for India in the first Test against Australia last December, where he was dismissed cheaply for a duck and 2 in the two innings.
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | Unbeaten in 9 years, Dhawan & Co have Team India's ODI record to maintain in SL
With technical flaws exposed, Shaw was subsequently dropped from the Test team as he went back to work with Pravin Amre. After working on improving his game, Shaw made headlines in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he scored 827 runs, becoming the first batsman in the history of the tournament to breach the 800-run mark in a single edition.
Shaw carried that form in the IPL as well, scoring over 300 runs in just eight matches for Delhi Capitals. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, Shaw became only the second batsman in IPL's history to hit six fours in an over, off the bowling of Shivam Mavi.