Prithvi Shaw will make his debut for Maharashtra at the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament in Chennai set to be played from August 18 to September 9. This will be Shaw’s first tournament for the side, having moved from Mumbai in July. The 25-year-old is looking to reignite his career in top-level cricket after a torrid season last year in which he was dropped by Mumbai due to issues with his fitness and discipline.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is also named in the squad, with the tournament marking the first time he plays any top-level cricket since suffering an elbow injury that had ruled him out halfway through the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It had resulted in MS Dhoni making a comeback into the role of Chennai Super Kings captain for the remainder of the season.
However, Gaikwad and wicketkeeper Saurabh Nawale are expected to exit the squad after the first match, having been selected to play for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy. West Zone have received direct entry into the semi-finals and will play their first game on September 4.
A fresh start for Shaw
Shaw had been granted a no-objection certificate from Mumbai to change teams in June. “At this stage of my career, I believe joining the Maharashtra team will help me grow further as a cricketer,” Shaw said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful to the Mumbai Cricket Association for the opportunities and support I have received over the years.”
Maharashtra Cricket president Rohit Pawar said Shaw’s international and IPL experience would be valuable and the team would stand “firmly behind Prithvi in his new journey” for the seasons ahead.
Widely rated as one of the most exciting young talents in the world during his teenage years, Shaw’s international career petered out after five Tests, six ODIs and a T20I, with his last match for India coming in July 2021. He remained prolific in the domestic scene for a couple of years after that as well before his sharp decline last season.
Shaw has 4556 runs in 58 first-class appearances at 46.02, scoring 13 centuries and 18 half-centuries with a highesgt score of 379. In List-A games, he has 3399 runs at 55.72 and a strike-rate of 125.74. In T20s, his 2902 runs have come at a strike-rate of 151.54 and average of 25.01. He was unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction. Shaw was captain of the Indian team that won the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, with current Test captain Shubman Gill being the player of the tournament.
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Maharashtra Squad
Ankit Bawane (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prithvi Shaw, Siddhesh Veer, Sachin Dhas, Arshin Kulkarni, Harshal Kate, Siddharth Mhatre, Saurabh Nawale (wk), Mandar Bhandari (wk), Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Pradeep Dadhe, Vicky Ostwal, Hitesh Walunj, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
