Shoulder injury rules Prithvi Shaw out of India A warm-up matches in New Zealand

Mumbai opener Prithvi Shaw will miss India A's upcoming warm-up matches against New Zealand due to a shoulder injury he picked up in the Ranji Trophy against Karnataka last week. Shaw, who is currently undergoing rehab in Bengaluru, will play no part in the two 50-over matches, scheduled for January 17 and 19 in Lincoln. His availability for the three one-dayers and two four-day matches is also in doubt.

Shaw hurt his left shoulder on the first day of the Ranji game while covering for an overthrow. MRI scans revealed he had hurt his rotator cuff on his left shoulder. However, in a surprising move, the BCCI asked the Mumbai team management to pull Shaw out of the match and send him to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to manage the rehab.

"Prithvi is currently under rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and has been ruled out of India A's two upcoming practice games in New Zealand," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a board release. "A call on his participation in the one-day and four-day matches will be taken at a later stage."

This is the second time a freak injury has disrupted Shaw's career. At the outset of India's Test tour of Australia in 2018, Shaw tripped on his ankle in the field and was forced to watch the series, which India won, from home. Shaw had gone to Australia brimming with confidence after a century on Test debut, against West Indies.

This time, too, Shaw was in good nick before the injury. He returned from his doping ban on a confident note, cracking a maiden double-century against Baroda in first round of the Ranji Trophy in December. That came on the back of three half-centuries in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.