Reigning champions Mumbai, gunning for their 42st Ranji Trophy title, on Wednesday inducted uncapped teenage batsman Prithvi Shaw into their squad for the semi-finals against two-time champions Tamil Nadu to be played at Rajkot from January 1 to 5.
17-year-old Shaw has shown enormous promise in the junior level, having slammed a then record score of 546 in a Harris Shield Schools game three years ago which was overtaken by Pranav Dhanawade in January this year.
Mumbai will be without their experienced pace bowler Dhawal Kulkarni, out due to an injury, for what promises to be a no-holds-barred contest.
Incidentally Mumbai, who defeated another South team Hyderabad in the quarter finals at Raipur, had beaten Tamil Nadu narrowly in the league phase.
Mumbai squad: Aditya Tare (captain), Abhishek Nayar, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad, Praful Waghela, Prithvi Shaw, Shardul Thakur, Balwinder Singh Sandhu Jr, Tushar Deshpande, Royston Dias, Sufiyan Shaikh, Vijay Gohil, Akshay Girap, Eknath Kerkar.
Image: Prithvi Shaw
Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com