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Once touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Prithvi Shaw's career is on a downward spiral. While he has been out of national selectors' radar for a while, he was still considered an asset in T20s. Mumbai dropped him fromt Ranji Trophy squad but picked him for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024. On November 26, Shaw who had opted for a base price of Rs 75 lakh found no takers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction and remained unsold. Former Delhi Capitals (DC) coach Mohammad Kaif feels Shaw only has himself to blame for not being able to pique franchises' interest. Kaif recalled how DC team management was always in a fix whether to give him another chance or drop him.
"Delhi gave a lot of opportunities to Prithvi Shaw because the expectations from him were that he is a powerplay player. This player has the ability to hit 6 fours in an over. He did do it against Shivam Mavi. He had a lot of potential. He was backed a lot in the hope that if he performs well today, we will win the match. We used to sit in meetings many times in which there was a discussion on whether Prithvi Shaw should be dropped or kept in the playing eleven. It was decided at night that we will drop him, but as soon as morning came he would be in the team," Kaif said on JioCinema.
Kaif feels Shaw was given enough chances but he could not make the most of them. He said that it is a great shaw for the Mumbai-born batter and he needs to work on his fitness, score runs in domestic cricket to prove his worth again.
"Before the toss we used to say that we want this player in the playing eleven. At night we used to refuse that we don't want this player in the playing eleven, he is not scoring runs, he is a flop, but as soon as morning came he was in the team, because we thought that if he performs today then we will win the match. In the pursuit of maybe...maybe... he got many opportunities, but Shaw could not take advantage. Many players do not get opportunities, but he got them and he could not perform and now he will have to accept that his form is bad. He will have to think about his game. Teams have moved on from him. It is a matter of great shame for him that no one bought him in the auction. Now he will have to score runs consistently in domestic cricket," Kaif added.
Shaw's run in last IPL season
In the last mega auction, Shaw was picked for Rs 7.5 crore by DC. In the last two seasons, he has had diminishing returns. The opener scored 198 runs from eight innings in the previous edition at an average of 24.75 including one half-century. While his strike rate of 163.63 was impressive, he was not consistent enough.
The 25-year-old will have a point to prove if he gets to play for Mumbai in their next SMAT 2024 clsah against Maharashtra.
