Prithvi Shaw’s recall to West Zone’s Duleep Trophy squad puts him back in front of national selectors for the first time in half a decade, and it’s built entirely on runs rather than reputation. He scored 537 for Maharashtra in the last Ranji season, including a rapid double century, after two years on the outer with Mumbai. Nobody at the BCCI has promised anything beyond this squad spot, but domestic form this strong is exactly what gets a stalled career moving again.
A Ranji Season Built On Runs
Shaw’s turnaround started with a move from Mumbai to Maharashtra after securing a No Objection Certificate in June 2025, and the switch paid off immediately. He finished the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy with 537 runs from seven matches and eleven innings, averaging in the high forties, with the most recently verified figure standing at 48.84.
The standout knock came against Chandigarh, where he raced to 222 not out off just 156 balls, reaching his double century in 141 deliveries, the third-fastest in Ranji Trophy history behind Tanmay Agarwal and Ravi Shastri. He struck 29 fours and 5 sixes as Maharashtra declared on 359 for 3. He also made 75 against Kerala in his first game for the new state and 71 against Karnataka on his 26th birthday, finishing as Maharashtra’s leading run-scorer.
That’s a sharp reversal from his final Mumbai season, when he managed just 197 runs in nine Syed Mushtaq Ali matches and was dropped from the Ranji squad over fitness and discipline concerns.
Prithvi Shaw Duleep Trophy 2026 Comeback
The gap since his last India appearance is significant context for the recall. His last Test came in December 2020 against Australia at Adelaide, the infamous 36 all-out innings, and his last international appearance in any format was a first-ball duck in a T20I against Sri Lanka in July 2021. That’s roughly five years on the outside of national selection heading into this tournament.
The decline in between was steep. He failed a fitness test ahead of the 2022 IPL, missed selection for West Zone’s squad the following season, and then lost his place in Mumbai’s Ranji squad altogether. He went unsold at the 2025 IPL mega auction before Delhi Capitals picked him up for seventy-five lakh in this year’s accelerated round. Getting picked for West Zone now, captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad, is the first tangible sign selectors are willing to look at him again.
Selectors Weigh In On The Decision
Mumbai’s chief selector Rajesh Pawar chaired the West Zone selection meeting and spoke about the decision publicly. He pointed to Shaw scoring more than 500 runs in the previous Ranji season as the basis for recall, acknowledged his talent has never been in question, and noted that at just 26 he still has time to force his way back into India contention. Pawar framed it as a door left open rather than a guarantee of anything beyond the Duleep squad.
Nobody from the national selection panel has commented specifically on the inclusion, so the read on his prospects currently rests on domestic selectors rather than Ajit Agarkar’s group. That distinction matters. Zone selectors control who plays this tournament, but only the national panel decides India selection.
A History Of Big Stages
Shaw has a habit of producing his best cricket on this exact stage. He scored a century on debut back in 2017, becoming the youngest player to do so and breaking a record that had stood since Sachin Tendulkar. In the 2022 quarter-final, he made 61 off 66 balls, then followed it with 60 and 104 not out in the semi-final against Central Zone, a contribution that earned him Player of the Match honours as West Zone reached the final.
He couldn’t repeat that in the 2023 final, managing 65 and 9 as West Zone lost to South Zone, and he missed the 2025-26 edition entirely after being left out over form and fitness. This year’s selection reverses that omission, giving him a tournament where he has previously delivered when it mattered most. Whatever happens over the coming weeks, the Prithvi Shaw Duleep Trophy 2026 comeback story is now a genuine subplot of the tournament, built on runs rather than sentiment.