Former Team India cricketer Aakash Chopra has backed Delhi Capitals opener Prithvi Shaw to find a place in the ICC T20 World Cup squad scheduled to take place later this year. Shaw was in devastating form with the bat in IPL 2021 before BCCI called off the tournament for the time being due to the COVID-19 crisis in India.
Prithvi batted with complete swag and confidence and held the fort for Delhi Capitals. The right-handed batter smacked 308 runs in 8 innings at a strike rate of 166.49, before the event came to a halt. The young batter from Mumbai came to the IPL sphere on the back of the superlative form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where he finished as the highest run-scorer. He scored over 800 runs at a staggering average of over 165 and an impressive strike rate.
Prithvi Shaw should get a chance in T20 World Cup – Aakash Chopra
Delhi Capitals lost only 2 of their 8 matches, and in those Shaw had scores of 2 and 21, making his contributions in other games resembling the form of the Capitals. In the wake of his blistering batting display, Aakash Chopra believes that the BCCI should get him for the T20 World Cup.
“We had spoken earlier that Prithvi Shaw will be one of the finds of the tournament, that his strike rate will be the best. And he is standing there only. The way he has batted, six fours off six deliveries, it is not that easy to hit six boundaries in the first over,” Aakash Chopra said in his YouTube video.
“The way he has batted, the skills and fearless approach he has shown, he was taking risks but it did not seem like he was doing so. He has been absolutely sensational. We saw the old Prithvi Shaw, who had scored a century on his Test debut,” he added.
Meanwhile, with limited game time due to the ongoing crisis in the country, Prithvi Shaw will have to fire in whatever opportunities that come his way. He is expected to earn a place in the second-string squad that will fly to Sri Lanka for a limited-overs series in July. Aakash Chopra believes if Shaw continues to perform in this manner, he will be one of the frontrunners for a spot in the T20 championship.
“If he [Prithvi Shaw] continues batting like this, I feel, he will have to be considered for the World T20. You just cannot ignore him now because of the kind of form he has shown, the kind of runs he has put, and the fashion in which he has scored those runs,” Chopra concluded.