'He is as skilled as any other batter in India': Shane Watson defends out-of-form Prithvi Shaw, gives reason behind run-out against RCB

Things are going from bad to worse for the Delhi Capitals (DC) as the franchise lost its fifth consecutive match on April (15) Saturday.

SportsTak

• Sun • 16 Apr 2023

Things are going from bad to worse for the Delhi Capitals (DC) as the franchise lost its fifth consecutive match on April (15) Saturday. David Warner's side is the only franchise that has not won a single game in the ongoing edition of the cash-rich tournament. The Delhi-based franchise has played five matches so far this season, losing all the contests. As a result, the team is stationed at the bottom of the points table.

The major reason behind Delhi's abysmal start to the season has been the lack of production from their batters, particularly Prithvi Shaw. The right-handed batter is enduring a horrendous campaign and the Mumbaikar is struggling to buy runs at the moment. In the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Shaw was run out for a two-ball duck, which only highlighted the lack of luck the right-handed batter is grappling with at the moment.

After the game, DC's assistant coach Shane Watson gave an interesting reason behind Shaw's dismissal while the former Australian all-rounder lauded the opening batter's skillset.

"Prithvi came off after sitting for 20 overs until the impact player rules came in. Otherwise he would be out there running around ready to take off and run that a little bit faster," Watson said.

"Prithvi is as skilled as any other batter in India. And everyone has seen that from the time he made his Test debut. The biggest thing for him is just to be able to allow himself to access the skills with no fear of making a mistake or getting out.

"He can take down the best bowlers in the world and in all conditions. A player like Prithvi does not just fall out of a tree", he added.

In five matches this season, Shaw has scored just 34 runs and is averaging 6.80. The runs have completely dried up for the swashbuckling right-handed batter and his poor returns with the bat seem to have directly impacted the DC's performance.