IPL 2023: Ajit Agarkar defends out-of-form Prithvi Shaw after Virender Sehwag's 'look at Shubman Gill' criticism

Delhi Capitals' (DC) explosive right-handed batter Prithvi Shaw has endured a horrendous start to the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

SportsTak

• Wed • 05 Apr 2023

Delhi Capitals' (DC) explosive right-handed batter Prithvi Shaw has endured a horrendous start to the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Shaw could only muster a knock of seven runs in five balls during DC's loss against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on April 4 (Tuesday). In the DC's opening match of the season, the 23-year-old could only score 12 runs off nine balls. Shaw's poor production with the bat has directly impacted the Delhi-based franchise's performance to begin this year's cash-rich tournament.

DC's assistant coach Ajit Agarkar came to his star batter's defence and cited the complete failure of the batting unit rather than singling out a couple of batters.

"They've (Prithvi and Sarfaraz) made runs in the past and in general. We are talking about a guy who has scored a century on Test debut. I don’t think we batted well, So why point out one or two guys? None of our top order did well. Really no one got going. I mean, in both games we’ve not begun at the top as other teams have and you can see the difference. So there’s no point picking individuals. Collectively, we’ve not been good enough on both nights and you need to improve because you’re playing against some good teams. So credit to Gujarat but, you know, we need to improve collectively as a group as a batting unit to get better results," Agarkar told reporters after DC's loss against GT.

"We just need to apply for better and better performances. So no, again, you’re talking about two people who got heaps of runs and there's no doubt that there are different standards when you play domestic cricket and come to the IPL. But because you've got heaps of runs, you have been there before. It’s about adjustment and these guys have done it before. It's not like they are playing for the first time. So we're pretty confident that we get it right," he added.

On the contrary, looking at Shaw's mode of dismissals and his inability to consistently perform at the high level, former India captain and legendary batter, Virender Sehwag voiced anguish at the DC batter. Sehwag cited the example of star India batter Shubman Gill, who was Shaw's Under-19 mate, and urged the out-of-form DC opener to buckle up.

"He has been dismissed playing those kind of shots so many times...but he should also learn from his mistakes, right? Look at Shubman Gill, who played U-19 cricket with him and is now playing Test, ODIs and T20Is for India, but Shaw is still struggling in IPL. He has to make the most of this IPL platform and score runs. Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 600-odd runs in an IPL season. Shubman Gill also scored big runs. So even Shaw has to be consistent with his IPL scores," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz after the game between DC and GT.