Prithvi Shaw Returns To Mumbai Squad For Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

India Test opener Prithvi Shaw is finally set to make his much-awaited return to action as he has been named in Mumbai’s squad for the remainder of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The right-handed batsman could finally take the field on November 17. He is now eligible to play Mumbai’s final league stage game, against Assam on November 17. The doping ban imposed on the youngster will end on Friday (November 15).

Prithvi Shaw was slapped with the ban in July for inadvertently ingesting a prohibited substance which can be commonly found in cough syrups. The Mumbai star had provided a urine sample as part of the BCCI’s anti-doping testing program during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match on 22nd February 2019 in Indore. His sample was subsequently tested and found to contain a Terbutaline.

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The substance is prohibited both In & Out of Competition in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances. The back-dated ban came into effect from March 2019 and is thus ending this month. The U19 World Cup-winning player is very much likely to reclaim his spot in the India Test side. In his absence, India tried out different combinations before settling on Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal for the time being.

As of now Shubman Gill is the backup opener but Shaw is likely to replace him in the squad. Things, however, could change if Shaw struggles to hit the ground running in domestic cricket. Shaw has not played a Test since starring in his debut series against West Indies last year. He scored a ton on his debut and finished the two-match series with 237 runs to bag the Man of the Series award.

He was also a part of the team for the Australia tour but missed the series after picking up an injury during a warm-up game. Shaw, meanwhile, will be eyeing a spot in the T20I side too for next year’s T20 World Cup. With Shikhar Dhawan struggling, Shaw can be in contention if he does well in domestic circuit. Mumbai, meanwhile, are at the top of the points table in Group D after winning all of their opening five games.

Mumbai’s squad:

Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw (Eligible from 17th November), Aditya Tare, Jay Bista, Siddhesh Lad, Shivam Dube, Shubham Ranjane, Sujit Nayak, Shams Mulani, Dhrumil Matkar, Shardul Thakur, Dhawal Kulkarni, Tushar Deshpande and Eknath Kerkar.