Prithvi Shaw has been excluded from the Mumbai squad for their upcoming Ranji Trophy match against Tripura. While Mumbai officially gave no reason for the exclusion, reports indicate that Shaw has been told to work on his fitness and that the decision to drop him is also a subtle warning for the 24-year-old to sort out his disciplinary issues.

Shaw missed Mumbai's conditioning camp in Bengaluru in July and the Buchi Babu Trophy in Chennai. He started his domestic season with a score of 76 for Mumbai against Rest of India in the second innings of the Irani Trophy. The match ended in a draw and Mumbai won the trophy on account of their first innings lead. In the Ranji Trophy, Shaw has made scores of 7 and 12 in Mumbai's defeat to Baroda, and then 1 and 39* off 36 balls in the nine-wicket win over Maharashtra.

According to Cricbuzz, the Mumbai selectors and team management felt that Shaw is overweight. They are also miffed with him for not taking net practice sessions seriously. While captain Ajinkya Rahane, who has a prolific international career to his name, and India stars Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur are consistent in the nets, Shaw has reportedly been skipping sessions. When he does attend, he tends to take it lightly and get out cheaply. According to Cricbuzz, Rahane and head coach Omkar Salvi concurred with the selectors in the decision to drop Shaw.

It has been further reported by the Indian Express that Shaw has been told to follow two weeks of a fitness programme prepared by Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) trainers. The team management has told the MCA that the 24-year-old's body contains 35 percent fat.

Prithvi Shaw's meteoric rise and fall

Once considered among the brightest young talents in the world, Shaw's career has gone astray with allegations of his struggles with discipline and fitness following him everywhere. Shaw has also been the subject of a number of off-field issues, including a brawl at a nightclub in February 2023 which led to him being followed and later manhandled. Shaw was suspended for a few months in 2019 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a doping violation.

Shaw became the second played after Sachin Tendulkar to score centuries on debut in the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy. He made his international debut in the first Test against the West Indies in October 2018 and scored a century in his first innings itself, smashing 134 in 154 balls. Aged 18 years and 319 days at the time, Shaw was the youngest Indian to score a century on his Test debut and the youngest from his country to achieve the milestone after Tendulkar.

However, his performances dwindled and his last Test appearance came in December 2020 in the first Test against Australia, where was dismissed for a duck in the first innings and scored four runs in the second. Shaw has played five Tests in which he scored 339 runs at an average of 42.37 with one century and two half-centuries. He has made just one T20I appearance for India in which he was out for a duck. Shaw played six ODIs in which he scored 189 runs at an average of 31.50 but an impressive strike rate of 113.85.

Shaw is only 24 years old and has displayed his prolific talent in the domestic circuit a number of times in the years since his last Test appearance. He was an integral part of the Mumbai team that won the Ranj Trophy last season. Shaw notably scored a 383-ball 379 against Assam in January 2023.

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