Prithvi Shaw lands in UK for maiden County stint with Northamptonshire

Attacking opener Prithvi Shaw finally landed in the UK on Monday after some logistical delays for his maiden County stint with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club (NCCC), per the latest reports. The Mumbai-based batter will play his first match against Gloucestershire in a One-Day Cup game on Friday, August 4. The Chief Executive of NCCC, Ray Payne, confirmed the news,welcoming Shaw to the UK.

"I am delighted to say Prithvi arrived in the UK today (Sunday) and will feature in our One-Day Cup starting Friday, August 4. The official announcement (will come) tomorrow (Monday)," Ray Payne, the Chief Executive of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club (NCCC), told Cricbuzz.

Earlier, with no confirmation from the NCCC over Shaw’s arrival to the country and joining them for the upcoming season, his status remained in limbo.

However, Shaw later managed to secure the NOC from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and was permitted to skip the ongoing Deodhar Trophy inter-zonal one-day championship in Puducherry.

He has joined the likes of David Willey and Andrew Tye in the Steelbacks' side.

The young batter is the fourth Indian after Cheteshwar Pujara, Arshdeep Singh and Navdeep Saini to join English County. Veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane had signed up with Leicestershire but pulled out of his contract to take a break. Rahane, who was out of the side and without a central contract for the upcoming season, made the right noises with his performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings.

Starting for MS Dhoni-led team, Rahane scored the fastest fifty of the season against Mumbai Indians and even hit a quick-fire fifty. On the back of those stunning outings, Rahane got picked for the all-important World Test Championship (WTC) Final, where he returned with 89 and 46 across both outings.

Shaw lost path following dream start

After leading the Indian Under-19 team to a World Cup title in 2018, Prithvi Shaw made his Test debut against West Indies at Rajkot and scored a hundred on debut. Although he was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Shaw lost his path following mediocre outings in Australia, where his inability to tackle the incoming ball got exposed.

Shaw continued to play for Delhi Capitals in the IPL, but couldn’t become a regular in India’s white-ball team, featuring in six ODIs and a lone T20I for the Men in Blue so far.

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