Sourav Ganguly revealed the reasons for his exclusion
Delhi Capitals (DC) director of cricket Sourav Ganguly explained why they benched explosive opener Prithvi Shaw in the first two games of the IPL 2024 season. The first match was against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), other was with Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Did not fit in the playing 11
Quite a few eyebrows were raised when Mitchell Marsh opened the innings with David Warner and Shaw was nowhere to be seen. However, Ganguly claimed that the Capitals looked to get the most out of the veteran Australian duo and opined that Ricky Bhui was a better option in the middle order than Shaw.
Ganguly talked about Team’s Combination
Ganguly told the broadcasters of IPL. “Prithvi Shaw is an opener. We decided to open with Marsh and Warner and Ricky Bhui is a middle-order batter. So they bat at different positions. So it’s actually not Bhui for sure. It’s a different opening combination, they opened for Australia and they have done well together. So we decided to do that.”
Delhi Capitals did not have enough time with him in the pre season camp
Another reason Sourav Ganguly gave for not playing Prithvi Shaw was the lack of time the latter had to prepare with the Capitals in the pre-season camp. Ganguly shed light on the knee injury that kept Shaw out of action for several months.
He played for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy
As soon as the opener was fit, he went to play the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai, playing right till the end of the tournament and winning the final. On this, Ganguly stated: “To be honest, we did not get much of Prithvi Shaw in the camp. Unfortunately, he was injured for a long time. After he went to England for the county stint in Northamptonshire where he played exceptionally well and tore his ligament in the knee, we couldn’t get him till February. After he came back to fitness, he played Ranji Trophy. You can’t take anybody away from Ranji Trophy and put in an IPL camp. And then Mumbai won the tournament, and he played till the last day of the tournament.”
Prithvi Shaw’s last IPL was horrendous
Prithvi Shaw had a horrific IPL 2023 with the bat, scoring just 106 runs in eight games at an appalling average of 13.25. But given his quality the Delhi team can give him the place in the playing 11. Prithvi Shaw would also be waiting to get an opportunity to perform. He would want to make the comeback in the Indian team. Prithvi Shaw was part of Indian Test team.