Exclusive: ‘Don’t know how much time will it take to get fit,’ Prithvi Shaw ahead of West Indies tour selection

With the dust slowly settling on the ICC World Cup, the focus will slowly shift from ODIs to Tests, from white ball to the red one and dare we say from India’s middle order to openers.

The opening position in Tests has been what the No. 4 is for India’s limited overs set-up. Lot of trials but very little success and if Prithvi Shaw’s concerns are to be believed then it is set to continue even in India’s next tour to the West Indies.

Prithvi Shaw, who scored a debut hundred against the West Indies a year ago at Rajkot, is doubtful for the the two-match series in the Caribbean slated to begin from August 22. A hip injury suffered during the final of the Mumbai Premier League might rule the young opener out of the Test series.

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Shaw had scored a crucial 61 off 55 despite hurting is hip mid-way through the final to lead his side North Mumbai Panthers to victory. But the 19-year old is yet to recover fully from that injury.

“I’m not a 100% fit and don’t know exactly how much it will take, the process is going on and I’m working with the physios to get back to fitness but can’t put a timeline on it right now,” Shaw told Hindustan Times on the sidelines of an event organized by Indian Oil at New Delhi.

The West Indies series kick starts with three T20s and three ODIs, so there is considerable time for the young Mumbaikar to regain his fitness.

“Yes, there is time so I can’t make a comment on that and we’ll see how it goes,” Shaw said.

Injuries have been a regular part of Shaw’s short career so far. After scoring a hundred and a 92 in his first two Test appearances in the home series against the Windies, he hasn’t played a single Test match for India. He was selected for the Australia tour and would have perhaps faced the new ball with either Murali Vijay or KL Rahul but an unfortunate ankle injury in the practice match ruled him out of the four-match series. Mayank Agarwal was a drafted in as his replacement and he immediately left a mark with a couple of crucial fifties in the final two Test matches to more or less cement his spot at the top of the order.

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If Shaw does not recover on time then India could be forced to recall either Murali Vijay or Shikhar Dhawan, who were both dropped from the Australia series.

Interestingly, there have been reports of Virat Kohli opting out of the entire West Indies series to manage his workload after a tiring World Cup, which could bring the focus back on India’s opening pair, which has given a lot of headache after Dhawan and Vijay’s runs dried up in overseas conditions.