“Show this to Prithvi Shaw”: Kevin Pietersen applauds Sarfaraz Khan’s fitness, urges Prithvi Shaw to follow

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has called out Team India’s out-of-favour batter Prithvi Shaw, while praising Sarfaraz Khan for his inspirational fitness transformation.

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A few days ago, Sarfaraz shared images of his physical transformation on his Instagram story with a caption that read, “17 kg down.” Seeing the drastic change in his fitness, Pietersen was impressed and applauded his efforts on social media. However, while doing so, he also took the opportunity to nudge Prithvi Shaw, urging him to draw inspiration from Sarfaraz.

"Outstanding effort, young man!" Pietersen wrote on X. "Huge congrats and I’m sure it’s going to lead to better and more consistent performances on the field. I love the time you’ve spent reorganising your priorities! LFG! Can someone show Prithvi this please? It can be done! Strong body, strong mind!"

Once regarded as one of the most promising talents in world cricket, Prithvi has recently lost his way. Fitness has always been a concern for him, and many believe improving that aspect would enhance his overall game.

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Prithvi has played 12 international matches so far (5 Tests, 6 ODIs, and 1 T20I). His last appearance for India came on 25 July 2021 against Sri Lanka in Colombo — the only T20I he has played. Ahead of the upcoming domestic season, he is set to represent Maharashtra after being dropped from the Mumbai Ranji team due to fitness issues.

For Sarfaraz, too, things haven’t gone as planned recently, but he has continued working hard and now looks fitter than ever. He has played six Tests for India, with his last appearance coming during the home series loss against New Zealand in 2024. In that series, he scored 150, 11, 9, 0, and 1. He was later selected for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia but didn’t get a game.

Despite that, he continued scoring runs for India A, recording scores of 71*, 14, 68, 34, and 92 in five matches abroad. The final innings — 92 — came against the England Lions ahead of the ongoing India-England Test series. Expectations were high for his inclusion in the Test squad, but the selectors chose otherwise.

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