Prithvi Shaw breaks silence on selection snub for India's T20I playing XI after long-awaited comeback

A month since the end of that New Zealand series, which India won by a margin of 2-1, Shaw opened up on the selection snub by the Indian team management.

After a long wait of 537 days, Prithvi Shaw had returned to the Indian team. On the back of an explosive domestic season, Shaw, who last appeared for India in the T20I contest against Sri Lanka in July 2021, was called back to the side for the home series against New Zealand in the shortest format. But despite the form, the 23-year-old was benched through the three-match contest with India backing his U-19 World Cup teammate Shubman Gill. A month since the end of that series, which India won by a margin of 2-1, Shaw opened up on the selection snub by the Indian team management.

India's Prithvi Shaw (ANI)

Shaw made a comeback to the Indian side on the back on an impressive run in domestic cricketer where he scored 363 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022 before notching up a masterful 379 in a Ranji Trophy game. However, India skipper Hardik Pandya and head coach Rahul Dravid backed Gill, who despite making a quite start to his T20I career had the support of the management after his magnificent double ton in the ODI series against New Zealand.

Gill had struggled in the first two matches of the New Zealand series, scoring 7 off 6 and 11 off 9 before responding with a thundering 126* in the final tie in Ahmedabad.

Speaking to News24 Sports, Shaw admitted that the return to the Indian team mattered to him more than the chance in the playing XI.

“I felt really nice coming back into the T20I squad, to meet the players and train with them. I enjoyed that bit. Yes I did not get an opportunity but was given the chance of making a comeback, that mattered,” he said.

“It all depended on them, when to play when not to, but I respected that because probably they wanted to give the person before me a bit longer run. But again, I don't regret that. I will keep on looking for opportunities because I have a list of goals I want to achieve with the Indian team,” he added.

When further asked why he felt it took time for him to make this comeback, Shaw said: “I kept on scoring runs. I felt if that was not enough then I have to score more and more...then I scored 379. It was just my day and felt I will not let go of this opportunity. Sometimes it just tends to hit you that why I am not in the Indian team for so long despite all the efforts...but it's never too late.”