‘How many with minimal body fat have scored 379 like him?’- Sunil Gavaskar throws Prithvi Shaw after Mumbai snub

Sunil Gavaskar helped Prithvi Shaw, who was cut from Mumbai’s team for their match against Tripura in the third round due to his body fat percentage of over 35%. Moreover, his dismissal has also been attributed to disciplinary concerns.

It makes sense, according to Gavaskar, if instances of indiscipline played a part in his exclusion. The former India opener did, however, add that Shaw’s Mumbai rejection should be attributed to “weight and shape” as a final factor.

Speaking about domestic games, Mumbai, the reigning Ranji Trophy winners, has benched Prithvi Shaw from their squad, which is presently in Tripura. Reports regarding his exclusion from the Ranji team have been conflicting. Hopefully, it has nothing to do with his weight, as one story seems to have indicated, but if it is about his attitude, approach, and discipline, then it makes sense. He had 35% more body fat, according to that report,” Gavaskar said in his Mid-Day column.

With the willow, Shaw has not been playing well; since August, he has only amassed one half-century in 15 innings. The 24-year-old is expected to be released by the Delhi Capitals prior to the high-profile auction after having awful IPL seasons as a batsman in 2023 and 2024. Before being removed from the Ranji Trophy 2024–25 team, the right-handed hitter only managed to score 59 runs in four innings.

Sarfaraz Khan: Sunil Gavaskar appears

Mumbai native Sarfaraz Khan, who is not slender, hit a massive 150 in the second Test match between England and India. Shaw, regardless of his weight, has the ability to join the Indian team, according to Gavaskar, who gave his example. The 75-year-old questioned how many thin players had scored 379 in the Ranji Trophy in January 2023, like Shaw did against Assam.

“We witnessed in the last Test in Bengaluru how another player, Sarfaraz Khan, whose weight and physique have also been publicly questioned, produced an incredible 150-run innings, demonstrating that cricket fitness is not determined by the size or shape of your waist. The question is if you can bowl more than 20 overs in a day or bat for 150+ runs and that too. The sole criterion for determining a player’s fitness should be that. In addition, how many athletes with 0% or less body fat have scored 379 like Prithvi Shaw? “I rest my case regarding fitness,” Gavaskar remarked.

Mumbai leads Tripura by 148 runs in the first innings and is now at 7/2 at the end of Day 3 of their second innings. For the reigning champions, Suryansh Shedge, Shams Mulani, Himanshu Singh, and Shardul Thakur all struck half-centuries in the opening innings.