Two days ago, a seemingly relaxed Prithvi Shaw appeared on a YouTube vlog where he spoke about the best ever one-line advice that he had once got from Sachin Tendulkar.
“Discipline beats talent” was the maestro’s terse tip for Shaw, the 25-year-old would tell social media influencer Karan Sonawane on the latter’s YouTube channel Focussed Indian.
Monday must have been a difficult one for Shaw, who could not find takers at the IPL mega auction in Jeddah. The 2018 U-19 World Cup winning captain was seen as the next big thing in Indian cricket and expectations increased when he scored a century on Test debut six seasons ago.
Perhaps now is the time when he needs to walk the talk and not just let Tendulkar’s advice remain mere words.
Twice his name came up at the auction and despite a base price of Rs 75 lakh, not one paddle went up for him.
There was Sourav Ganguly at one table, Rahul Dravid at another. The wise men at the table also included Ashish Nehra, Parthiv Patel, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori.
No one was remotely interested in Shaw, who had blazed into the collective consciousness of Indian fans with his boyish charm and a game to match.
But six years is a long time and after the IPL rejection, Shaw now stands at the crossroads in his career — it can either go boom or bust depending on what he wants to make out of his talent.
“Prithvi has been in Delhi Capitals. In DC itself, he had a chance to interact with Rahul Dravid, who was also his U-19 India coach, Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly.
“It’s an open secret in Mumbai cricket that Tendulkar has also spoken to him. Are these legends fools? Do you see any change in him? Even if there is, it is not evident,” a former India selector, who has watched Shaw from close quarters told PTI.
In Indian cricket, there’s a saying that perception travels faster than light and in case of Shaw, there’s nothing positive coming from any quarter. Even Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) dropped him from Ranji Trophy squad for being unfit before calling him back for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
In Indian cricket circles, if the word about someone’s work ethic spreads like wildfire, then people in power do not want to be associated with that cricketer.
“A night before the match, he would be dropped from the playing eleven but once we reached the ground, just before toss, everyone would come together and say, let’s give him (Shaw) one more chance.
“May be he will do it this time considering his talent,” Mohammed Kaif, former fielding coach with Delhi Capitals was seen sharing his views on Jio Cinema after Shaw went unsold.
Kaif’s agitation was more to do with a tremendous talent not realising his full potential.
Just like Ponting in an interview to Cricbuzzexpressed his disappointment on how he had to look at other players after Shaw failed to deliver the goods.
“When you feel like you’re not making players better and they’re not doing what you need for the team, then you’ve got to look for other players that can do it for you. So that then comes back to the player.
“With him in particular, I’ve had a lot of chats with him, a lot of conversations to try and make him a better cricketer,” Ponting had said.
Ponting’s words would give an indication that no one likes schooling players at this level and even players don’t like to hear sermons after one point of time.
There are fears that Shaw might go the Vinod Kambli way — the script is getting eerily similar. Humble background, instant international stardom and then a sharp downward spiral.
Only difference is that in 1990’s, the Indian cricket society wasn’t as evolved as it is now. Kambli didn’t have too many people around him, who could have actually brought him back on track.
In case of Shaw, there is help if he wants to seek out.
He needs to shed weight, score tons of runs but first and foremost, he needs to speak to himself, do a bit of soul searching about what he wants from life? Does he want his career to be confined to a short story or an epic novel? The answer will define the next course of his life.
Prithvi Shaw 2.0 is what Indian cricket would want. He is too good a talent that the establishment cannot afford to lose.
