‘We were playing with 10 fielders’ – MCA official makes scathing remarks on Prithvi Shaw’s poor fitness standards

Out of favour Indian batter Prithvi Shaw isn’t part of Mumbai’s squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy that begins on Saturday. The 25-year-old has been attracting loads of criticism in recent times over his fitness standards. Shaw was part of the side that won the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament by beating Madhya Pradesh in the finals. 

One Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) member while speaking to PTI made a scathing remark on the fitness levels shown by Shaw. The unnamed MCA official said “In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, we were playing with 10 fielders as we were forced to hide Prithvi Shaw. The ball would pass near him and he would barely be able to get to it," 

The unnamed member of MCA also added “Even while batting, we could see he was troubled reaching to the ball. His fitness, discipline and attitude are poor and it is pretty simple, there cannot be different rules for different players. Even the seniors in the team have started complaining about his attitude now”

Troubles continue to mount for Prithvi Shaw

After making his debut with a century against West Indies, Prithvi Shaw has seen his fortunes take a massive tumble. The 25-year-old last played for India in 2021 during the white-ball series against Sri Lanka. Despite some good performances with the bat, Shaw hasn’t been able to make his way back to the national side. 

In the last few months, questions have been asked about his fitness. Mumbai dropped Shaw for a few games during the Ranji Trophy and the young batter was ignored by all the IPL teams. After his axing from the squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Shaw’s Instagram post had MCA officials seeing red. “You would be wrong to think such posts on social media would have any impact on the Mumbai selectors and the MCA” the unnamed official added. 

The same MCA official during his chat with PTI also stated “I'll tell you one thing. No one is Shaw's enemy. He is his own enemy”. Many former stars have urged Prithvi Shaw to focus on his game and come back harder. The latest round of comments will certainly be a huge lesson for the youngster if he wants to make a strong comeback. 

Shreyas Iyer recently made a huge statement on Shaw where he said “He needs to get his work ethics right. And if he does that, the sky's the limit for him. We can't babysit anyone, right? He has played so much of cricket. Everyone has given him input. At the end of the day, it's his job to figure out things for himself. And he has also done it in the past. It's not that he hasn't,"