Prthivi Shorn of Promising Career

Among the most talented batsmen when he burst onto the international scene as a teenager, Prithvi Shaw has now been deemed dispensable by even the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for its state team. 

Shaw was dropped from the Vijay Hazare Trophy squad by the Mumbai selection committee over indiscipline and handed the captaincy of an MCA XI for a local tournament as a lifeline. 

The right-hander, who led India to the under-19 World Cup win in 2018 and was drafted months later into India Test squad making a century on debut, has had his share of problems with discipline like many cricketers who have struggled to handle sudden fame and perks that come as an India player.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya have all had their share of problems early in their careers but have managed to steer through these. 

Pandya most famously made comments on a TV show which were deemed ‘sexist and misogynist’ and he had to face suspension from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). 

But one thing that kept Pandya in the mix has been his importance to the Indian cricket team so much so that he managed to get a Grade A contract early this year despite not featuring in Test cricket, the highest form of international cricket. He played a role in India winning the T20 World Cup. He scored runs here and there and picked wickets, especially in the final of two most crucial South Africa batsmen. 

Pandya has had fitness concerns as he wasn’t picked for the Test side in the 2020-21 tour of Australia due to his inability to bowl due to injury. He hadn’t bowled in the IPL that preceded that or the white ball series prior to that. But he kept at it. 

Shaw’s problem has been two-fold. It is about lack of fitness, not due to injury but apparently of his own making, as well as performance. 

Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer summed it up after his team won the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 this month, saying, “He is a God-gifted player. The amount of talent he possesses as an individual, no one has it. That’s true. It’s just that he needs to improve his work ethics…. If he does that, sky is the limit.”

In modern-day cricket, which is fast-paced, fitness plays a key role.  Shaw lacks in it and it was clear from the images that came out during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games. 

Add to that his inability to scores runs.

In nine matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, he failed to score even a half-century. He did show traces of brilliance with a 26-ball 49 in the quarterfinal and a 15-ball 33 in the last league match but when the big stage arrived, the semi-finals and the final, he failed to fire. 

Importantly, he had missed out on being picked by a franchise at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction held late last month. 

IPL has never been his cup of tea. It is a tournament that gives several opportunities to a batsman. Barring the 2021 edition when he managed 479 runs across 15 matches at an average of 31.93, his average has been below par considering the fact that he is an opener and a promising batsman. 

The last two IPL seasons have been abysmal. He has managed only two fifties (one in each edition) in the 16 matches (eight in each season) he has played in 2023 and 2024.  

In 79 IPL matches, he has 14 fifties, no hundred and averages only 23.95.  

Shaw would do well to have a chat with Sachin Tendulkar or any of the other top India internationals from Mumbai to sort his career out.