The curious case of Prithvi Shaw continues to form ripples. No one knows what or how it all went wrong with the 25-year-old, once viewed as the blue-eyed boy of Indian cricket. Having risen to fame in 2018 by winning the U19 World Cup, Shaw made everyone take notice of his talent. Ravi Shastri, the former India head coach, once famously remarked that there is a bit of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Brian Lara in the youngster’s game.
However, barring his Test debut for India, where he sparkled with a century, Shaw has been a missed opportunity in Indian cricket. He has managed to play just 12 international matches for India, and to add to his woes, Shaw has now even been dropped from Mumbai’s squad for the first three matches of the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Nearly two months after suffering the same fate in the Ranji Trophy, Shaw’s VHT destiny wasn’t much different. Shaw, who’s been quiet this while, finally spoke up on all that’s been happening around him lately, and reacted to his omission by putting his List-A stats in the public domain and saying, “I’m not good enough.”
However, the decision-making authorities within the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) see the situation differently. There is no doubt within the management that Shaw needs to work on his fitness and discipline issues.
“The fitness concern is there, but the performance is also not there currently. He needs to work on his fitness, discipline and performance. The main issue is the fitness. You see the matches. You get the image, right? Just by looking at his frame, the fitness issues are there for everyone to see,” a source within the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) told Hindustan Times.
Shaw recently endured an underwhelming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament. Although his team, Mumbai, won the title by defeating Madhya Pradesh in the final on Sunday, in nine innings, Shaw did not even manage more than 200 runs. His average was below 25, and he often perished while facing the new ball. In all likelihood, Shaw’s performances have gone against his selection in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which begins December 21. There’s still time. Only one man can bail Shaw out of trouble and it’s Prithvi himself.
“We hope he works on these issues and makes a strong comeback. We all know his talent. It is just about him putting in the hard yards,” the source stated further.
Shaw goes unsold in IPL auction
Last month, Shaw went unsold in the recently-held Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His name popped up twice, but there were no takers for the young opening dasher.
Shaw had earlier endured a disappointing IPL 2024 campaign for Delhi Capitals. Shaw was even dropped from the playing XI for a few matches. Ricky Ponting, the head coach of Delhi Capitals for IPL 2024, also gave up on Shaw and made a startling comment about the right-handed batter’s work-ethic.
“I mean to start with I don’t like talking about individual players, but Prithvi shouldn’t be an outlier. He should be someone that’s in every team; the first pick in most teams with the skill that he’s got. He’s had a chance to represent India as a youngster, making a hundred on his Test debut,” Ponting told Cricbuzz in an interview.
“And as you say, halfway through this year, we couldn’t find a slot for him in our DC team. So, that’s disappointing for me as a coach not to be able to make certain players better and get the best out of them. But sometimes there’s only so much you can give, and so many times you can try,” he had added.