To drop Prithvi Shaw on the basis of one Test was tough – Ashish Nehra

Former Indian opener Ashish Nehra believes dropping Prithvi Shaw on the basis of one Test match was tough. Shaw could not deliver the goods in the opening pink-ball Test match against Australia in 2020. However, it should be noted that the whole team struggled in the second innings as the visitors were bundled out for a meagre score of 36 runs.

Shaw was dropped from the final XI and Shubman Gill was given his chance to open with Rohit Sharma. Subsequently, Shaw was not picked in the Test series against England in the home conditions. However, the talented batsman made a solid comeback as he scored 827 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and broke all the records.

Shaw also continued his good form while playing for Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2021 as he scored 308 runs in eight matches. However, the right-hander from Mumbai was ignored for the World Test Championship final and the Test squad for the five-match Test series against England.

“As far as technique is concerned, for any player it is difficult to adjust. Even during the Adelaide Test, he wasn’t a player who had a lot of experience or played 30-40 Test matches. We were talking about a youngster. To drop him on the basis of one Test match was tough,” Nehra told Cricbuzz. 

“It’s one thing that India went on to win the series but even then, I felt that he shouldn’t have been benched after one Test match. Even during last year’s IPL, I felt he shouldn’t have been dropped. He played a few good innings but couldn’t score runs,” Nehra added.

Nehra added that he will back explosive players like Prithvi Shaw ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, who is not known for his blistering strike rate. Shaw had scored his runs at a strike rate of 166.48 in the first eight matches of IPL 2021 before the tournament was deferred by BCCI.

“But I will always back a player who has more runs than Rahane, when you talk of T20 cricket. I’m not saying that Rahane is not a good player, but in T20 cricket you need explosive players like Shaw, Pant, Stoinis and Hetmyer ” Nehra added. 

Meanwhile, it is also reported that Prithvi Shaw has been asked to lose some weight after he wasn’t selected in the Test squad by the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel.