Prithvi Shaw sparkles with 150 as India A beat New Zealand XI by 12 runs

India A scraped to a 12-run victory over New Zealand XI in the 2nd tour game at Lincoln. The visitors rode on a sparkling century by Prithvi Shaw as they posted 362 in their allotted 50 overs.

The opener, whose participation had been under a cloud after sustaining a shoulder injury against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy, silenced all his critics courtesy a belligerent knock of 150, which was laced with 22 fours and 2 sixes. Prithvi’s pyrotechnics, coupled with Krunal Pandya and Vijay Shankar’s cameos, helped India A put up an above-par total on the board.

Over the past few months, the Mumbaikar’s career has been marred by several off-field controversies. In July, 2019, the opener was slapped with a retrospective eight-month ban for using a prohibited substance, meaning that he missed India’s Test series against Bangladesh and South Africa.

In the meantime, Rohit Sharma established himself at the top of the order, thereby placing Prithvi’s place in the Test side in jeopardy.

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After his return from the suspension, the 20-year-old looked in fine touch in the Ranji Trophy until he damaged his shoulder in December. Consequently, many feared that he would miss the tour to New Zealand, although he has since made a complete recovery.

Apart from the injuries, there have been accusations of the opener being prone to moments of indiscipline, criticisms that were made soon after his last domestic fixture against Karnataka.

Thus, Prithvi, especially after all the off-field chatter, would’ve been pleased to have let his bat do the talking against New Zealand XI at Lincoln on the 19 January, 2020.