Prithvi Shaw continued his recent purple patch as he scored a century on his return to first-class cricket in Ranji Trophy. Playing for Mumbai, Shaw missed out on the three-figure in the first innings as he was dismissed on 66. The right-handed batsman made a quick-fire century off 84 balls against Baroda to put Mumbai in a strong position. After 33 overs, Mumbai are 188/0.
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They lead by 312 runs and might declare in the last session before aksing Baroda to chase down the target. While Mumbai have kickstarted their campaign in a strong manner, Shaw has staked a claim for the backup opener’s role for the tour of New Zealand. In his absence, Shubman Gill was selected for South Africa and Bangladesh series. Though he did not get a chance as Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma retained the opening slots.
With a New Zealand tour coming up, both Shaw and Gill will compete for a place. The former has made the first claim by hitting a century and Gill will also look to come up with performances. Since both the players play number of Ranji Trophy matches before the team selection, it will be an easy task for the selection committee to pick a backup for Rohit and Mayank. Also, there is an India A tour before the international fixtures.
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Shaw, who was given a chance as opener ahead of Rohit and Mayank, had made his Test debut against West Indis last year. With 237 runs in the series, he also bagged Player of the Series award. He went to Australia as the first-choice opener but an injury during the practice match forced him to return without playing a match.
He would have made his comeback for the West Indies tour to open the innings with Mayank or KL Rahul but was handed an eight-month backdated ban for a doping violation. Shaw had to sit out for four months and made his return in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he scored 240 runs in five matches.