Prithvi Shaw to captain Mumbai in Vijay Hazare Trophy Knockouts
Regular Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer is set to depart for national duty along with Suryakumar Yadav and Shardul Thakur to face England in the limited-overs leg of their tour. Under the circumstances, the Mumbai Cricket Association has chosen Prithvi Shaw to shoulder the responsibility.
Shaw has been appointed captain of Mumbai for the knockout phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021, and the diminutive right-handed opener has a proven captaincy record.
He led India's Under-19 team to World Cup glory in 2018. Shaw had also captained Mumbai when they faced Puducherry in the league stage of the ongoing tournament. He smashed a record-breaking 227* off 152 balls to lead his team to a huge total of 457/4, which they easily defended by 233 runs.
Mumbai's road to the knockout stages
Mumbai are unbeaten in the VHT so far after 5 league games and are one of the favorites to win the title despite the departure of three experienced campaigners. Here are their results from the 50-over tournament so far:
Round 1 vs Delhi - Won by 7 wickets
Round 2 vs Maharashtra - Won by 6 wickets
Round 3 vs Puducherry - Won by 233 runs
Round 4 vs Rajasthan - Won by 67 runs
Round 5 vs Himachal Pradesh - Won by 200 runs
How is Prithvi Shaw's personal form?
Prithvi Shaw made a rollicking start to his international career with a century on Test debut in 2018. However, the explosive opener recently lost his place in India's Test squad. He was dropped after scoring 0 and 4 in the day-night Test in Adelaide during India's recent tour to Australia.
But Shaw seems to have rediscovered the kind of form that made him a sensation in the IPL as well as in international cricket. He has scores of 105*, 34, 227*, 36 and 2 in the five innings he's played in the tournament so far.
With added responsibility on his shoulders, captain Prithvi Shaw will be hoping to continue his good form and lead Mumbai to their 4th Vijay Hazare title.