“When he bats, there is a bit of Sachin, bit of Viru. When he walks, there is a bit of Lara as well.” This was how Ravi Shastri, India’s then-head coach, described Prithvi Shaw after he scored a Test hundred on his debut. 7 years later, Prithvi has played just 12 matches for India across formats. He hasn’t featured in a competitive game in 8 months. It’s all haywire.
Prithvi once captained the likes of Shubman Gill, Arshdeep Singh and Riyan Parag in the Under-19 World Cup for India. Now, they are superstars while he’s almost been forgotten. Prithvi has switched from Mumbai to Maharashtra after getting dropped and didn’t even get an IPL gig after playing for Delhi Capitals from 2018 to 2024.
Fitness, work ethic and disciplinary issues seem to be the reason for Prithvi’s downfall. Coaches, selectors and captains have criticised him at various times for these very reasons. The talent has always there but Prithvi hasn’t managed to bring it all together for a long time now.
Don’t know what happened with Prithvi Shaw
Dinesh Lad, who’s Rohit Sharma‘s childhood coach, has been Prithvi from close quarters and is saddened by what’s happened. He doesn’t know what transpired that led from being an India star to someone who doesn’t even make Mumbai’s team but finds it unfortunate.
“I have seen Prithvi since his childhood, from the time he was 10 years old. He was a highly talented player. But as I have said, everyone’s journey is individual, and I don’t know what exactly happened with him. Still, Prithvi Shaw was a very talented cricketer. Unfortunately, he went down the wrong path and ended up spoiling his cricket,” Lad said on the Gaurav Mangalani podcast.
Lad understands we have emerging talents like Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Suryavanshi but hopes to see Prithvi play as his style of batting was glorious to watch. Luckily even after missing a talent like Prithvi, Indian cricket is thriving.
“Even now, I feel there should be a batter like him, the way he used to bat. Although right now we have some truly outstanding batters. For example, the way Vaibhav Suryavanshi is batting, and the way Ayush Mhatre is batting. These are future cricketers in the making. They are getting ready in line. Indian cricket is almost at the top,” Lad added.
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