Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif, who was a part of Delhi Capitals' (DC) support staff from 2019 to 2021, revealed a strange ritual Prithvi Shaw used to get back in form. Kaif recalled a point where Shaw was unable to find his form and lack of practice led to him getting out cheaply for a few times.
“I was with the Delhi Capitals for three years and got to spend a lot of time with Prithvi Shaw. He had this ritual where, before the match, I used to hold a new ball with the seam and throw it underarm towards him, below his knee. He would keep knocking it back to me,” the 41-year-old Kaif told Sportskeeda.
The string of disappointing scores led to Shaw adopting the ritual again. India’s NatWest 2022 final hero said that one day he was surprised by Shaw sending a player to fetch him to bowl underarm again.
“One day, when I was having tea, a player came in and told me that Shaw was waiting for me outside. I ran outside and asked him what happened. So he told me, ‘please bowl underarm to me, I am not getting runs. I want to start this ritual again,” the Prayagraj-born batter recalled.
“He was specific that I had to bowl underarm but with a straight seam and also below the knee so that the ball could meet the middle of the bat. He used to play 10-12 balls in that manner. He used to hit the ball back at me and get into a sort of batting rhythm,” he added.
Kaif said that the ritual worked and Shaw continued his form till the end of the season. The 2021 season turned out to be his best as he went on to score 479 runs from 15 games at an average of 31.93 including four half-centuries.
Recently, Shaw has been on the receiving end of criticism for failing to qualify the Yo-Yo fitness test at National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru.
On March 27, Shaw got off to a decent start and contributed 38 runs from 24 balls in DC’s win against Mumbai Indians (MI).
