Prithvi Shaw, the opening batter who has been on the sidelines due to a knee injury, is set to return to competitive cricket later this week after being added to Mumbai’s squad for the Ranji Trophy Group B tie against Bengal, to be played in Kolkata from Friday.
Ever since Shaw suffered a serious knee injury in August while representing Northamptonshire against Durham in England’s one-day championship, he has undergone a rigorous recovery and rehab under the watchful eyes of the medical staff at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
“Once the NCA notified to us of Prithvi having been cleared fit, the selection committee has added him to the squad for the next Ranji Trophy game,” said Ajinkya Naik, the Mumbai Cricket Association secretary.
Mumbai, the group topper, will thus have a 17-member squad in Kolkata, with Ajinkya Rahane at the helm and vice-captain Shams Mulani having joined ace pacer Tushar Deshpande in the India A squad. With Bhupen Lalwani having emerged as Mumbai’s top-scorer this season with 314 runs, Shaw will likely come in for Jay Bista, who has been inconsistent at the top.
The match will be livestreamed on the official broadcaster’s streaming platform.
The squad: Ajinkya Rahane (Capt.), Prithvi Shaw, Jay Bista, Bhupen Lalwani, Shivam Dube, Amogh Bhatkal, Suved Parkar, Prasad Pawar (wk), Hardik Tamore (wk), Suryansh Shedge, Tanush Kotian, Atharva Ankolekar, Aditya Dhumal, Mohit Avasthi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Royston Dias, Sylvester Dsouza.
