MUMBAI: In a boost to his career which looked in the doldrums last year, former Mumbai batter Prithvi Shaw is set to lead Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy league stage, which will start from Nov 26. Shaw has replaced Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been recalled to India’s ODI squad for the upcoming home series against South Africa, for the captaincy position.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Since he moved to Maharashtra from Mumbai at the start of the season after being dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team last year, Shaw has been in sizzling form in the Ranji Trophy, with 470 runs in five matches (seven innings) — including a scintillating double-century (222 off 156 balls against Chandigarh at Chandigarh) and three half-centuries — at an superb average of 67.14, Shaw has been the highest run-getter for his team after the first leg.
On Monday, Shaw was named as the captain of the 16-man Maharashtra quad for the tournament by the Maharashtra selection committee — chaired by former left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar.“Yes, Prithvi has been named as the Maharashtra captain for SMAT, because Ruturaj won’t be available. It’s a collective decision, taken by our selectors and Shaun Williams, who is our director of cricket and the head coach of the Maharashtra senior team. Prithvi has done exceptionally well for us with his experience and skill. He also scored a double century for us. Our team is very happy with him. He is taking the team along with him, and he’s the one who can lead from the front. He deserves to be the Maharashtra captain. We are happy with him, he’s shown his commitment to come back into the Indian team,” Maharashtra Cricket Association secretary Kamlesh Pisal told TOI from Pune.
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With the IPL auction scheduled for Dec 15 in Abu Dhabi, the Maharashtra captaincy couldn’t have come at a better time for Shaw, who went unsold in the IPL last year in a major setback to his career. The 26-year-old scored 197 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 156.34 in SMAT last season, while playing for Mumbai.Maharashtra has been placed in Group B, alongside Jammu & Kashmir, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Goa. The team will play all its league matches in Kolkata. Maharashtra will launch their campaign against Jammu and Kashmir on Nov 26.Maharashtra Squad: Prithvi Shaw (C), Arshin Kulkarni, Rahul Tripathi, Azim Kazi, Nikhil Naik (WK), Ramakrishna Ghosh, Vicky Ostwal, Tanay Sanghvi, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Mandar Bhandari (WK), Jalaj Saxena, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Yogesh Dongare, and Ranjit Nikam.
