Once touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Mumbai batter Prithvi Shaw was recently dropped from Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy squads over fitness concerns. Shaw was told to shed a few kilos and he has got back to the grind to make his comeback after going unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction.
During his evening workout session on January 14, he took a selfie near the track and wrote in a post on Instagram, "You can take me out of the game!! But you can't stop me working... (wink emoji)".
Kaif's revelation on Shaw's last season at DC
Shaw had a base price of Rs 75 lakh but still did not find any takers. During the IPL auction show on Star Sports, former Delhi Capitals (DC) assistant coach Mohammad Kaif said that Shaw got enough chances to do justice to his talent at the franchise but could not make the best of it.
"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.
"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," he added.
The 25-year-old made his last appearance on the international stage in 2021. He has played five Tests, six ODIs and one T20I.