New Delhi: Top-order batsman Prithvi Shaw, who was left out of the Mumbai squad for the ongoing Ranji Trophy match against Tripura due to fitness and discipline issues, finds solace from none other than the legendary Sunil Gavaskar Ta.
The right-handed opening batsman, who has played five Tests, six ODIs and one T20I for India, seems to be facing some difficulties. The 24-year-old has been irregularly attending the team’s training sessions and has also been observed to be “slightly overweight”, sources said.
“Speaking of the domestic game, defending Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai have dropped Prithvi Shaw from the squad, which is currently in Tripura.There have been various reports about his omission from the Ranji team. “If it’s about his attitude, his approach, his discipline, that’s understandable.” But I hope it has nothing to do with his weight, as one report suggests. , the report suggested that he had 35 per cent more body fat,” Gavaskar wrote in a column for Mid-Day.
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Gavaskar also stressed that physical appearance such as weight and body shape should not be the main measure of a player’s fitness in cricket. He cited the example of Sarfaraz Khan, who scored an impressive 150 runs against New Zealand despite public scrutiny over his physique.
“In the last Test in Bangalore, we watched Sarfaraz Khan, whose weight and body shape were also in the news, play a brilliant innings of 150, but it was the shape and size of his waist. ‘Determine cricket fitness’ shows that it doesn’t matter.
What matters is whether you can score 150+ runs and bat for them all day long, or whether you can bowl 20+ overs in a day. That should be the only criterion for a player’s fitness. By the way, how many players like Prithvi Shaw have scored 379 with zero or minimal body fat?I am taking a break when it comes to fitness,” Gavaskar added.
