Disheartening to miss out in Australia but will be fit before the IPL, says Prithvi Shaw

Young Indian batsman Prithvi Shaw, whose much-anticipated tour of Australia was cut short by injury, is confident of making a comeback in the upcoming Indian Premier League season.

The 19-year-old, who made a stunning debut against West Indies in 2018, was all set to play his first Test away from home but a nasty ankle injury during the warm-up match eventually ruled him out of the entire Border-Gavaskar series.

“I will be fit before the Indian Premier League and I am trying hard to reach full fitness,” Shaw told India TV. “I am working on my ankle as well as on my upper body.”

During Shaw’s absence, the Indians went with an opening combination of Murali Vijay and KL Rahul for the first two Tests. Their poor form meant that Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari took the opening slots in Melbourne and setup India’s historic series win.

Shaw recounted the events that led to his injury in Sydney, which saw the Indian medical staff chair him off the field. “I was standing at deep mid-wicket. Ash bhai (Ravichandran Ashwin) was bowling and a catch came towards me. I caught the ball while jumping backwards in the air and my body weight fell on my left foot when I landed. It was a bit uneven there and my ankle got twisted 90 degrees and the entire bodyweight fell on that. That’s how it happened,” he said.

The hard-hitting opener revealed that he was on the road to recovery ahead of the second Test in Perth before the injury aggravated.

“I was trying hard to play in the second Test and the physios too were trying to get me fit for the match,” Shaw said. “However, the more they tried, the swelling increased and it got more painful. So, I thought even if I play, I will not be able to give my 100 per cent because it was not easy to play with that pain.”

The Mumbai batter, though, was thrilled to see Virat Kohli and Co help India to a first-ever Test series win Down Under. “It was an unfortunate incident and you can’t really do anything about that. It was my wish to play in the challenging conditions in Australia. I love the bounce there. But unfortunately, I suffered a leg injury. But that’s okay, I am very happy that India won the Test series. It can’t get better than this,” he said.

“I got full support of the team at that time because I was very disappointed with the injury. I had practiced hard for the tour and had many things in my mind that I thought I would do there. So, it was disheartening. But yes, now I am happy that we won the series.”