India batter Prithvi Shaw is facing a minimum of three months of absence from the field of cricket after he aggravated a knee injury.
The setback means that Shaw is bound to miss out on a major chunk of India's 2023-24 domestic season that resumes with the Irani Cup in Rajkot on October 1.
The 23-year-old suffered an injury during Northamptonshire's one-day championship fixture against Durham last month. According to ESPNcricinfo further scans revealed the injury was a lot worse than initially expected.
After consulting with a surgeon in London, Shaw returned to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for another assessment. At the moment, the medical team is examining all possible options regarding his treatment. As of now, surgery is likely to be the last resort.
ESPNcricinfo further revealed that an official from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) said they are going for "a wait-and-watch approach with Shaw. For now, though, it seems certain that he won't play in the limited-overs competitions beginning with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on October 16."
Shaw has represented India in five Tests, scoring 339 runs at an average of over 42 with a century and fifty in nine innings. In six ODIs for Men in Blue, he has scored 189 runs at an average of 31.60, with the best score of 49. He has also played a T20I match for India. He has not played for India since July 2021.
He was once again on the rise as he dominated the scoring charts by becoming the highest run-scorer in the One Day Cup with 429 runs in four innings, including a record-breaking 244 off 153 balls against Somerset, at the time of his injury.
After joining the club, Shaw said, "My goal is always to help win games for the team and it was so disappointing to get injured and have to leave early this time."
"I had a few teams contacting me after the tournament wanting to talk about playing for them next year, but I feel like I still have more to achieve with Northamptonshire. They gave me the opportunity this year and I am very happy to be coming back," he added.
