Prithvi Shaw’s decline alarming, reminiscent of Vinod’s Kambli’s fall from top
Just about every Indian cricket fan, expert, and even the ones outside the country seem to be mighty worried about talented Mumbai cricketer Prithvi Shaw. The 25-year-old, U-19 World Cup winning captain came under the limelight fairly early in his life, as a school cricketer, and lived up to the potential in the age group cricket as well.
The talented batter Prithvi Shaw led India’s U-19 team to the World Cup title win in 2018 and fast-tracked into the Indian team in the red-ball format same year. He made his Test debut against West Indies in 2018 and slammed a century in the match to grab the attention of the cricket fraternity. However, things went downhill for him after his inconsistency with bat and fitness concerns as he lost his place in the side. He last played for India way back in July 2021 and, since then, struggled to get back into the side.
After leading the country to the U-19 WC triumph in the 2018, Prithvi Shaw was touted as the next Sachin Tendulkar, and gave a glimpse of it in his debut Test as well, vs West Indies, where he smashed his maiden ton..but that was it. Now, his string of controversies has led all to believe, that he could be the next Vinod Kambli.
Just like Prithvi Shaw , Vinod Kambli had an exceptional start to his international career, but soon faded away into obscurity. Life off the field started taking a toll on the field, and his career was never the same. He was controversies favorite child, and did not mend his ways. That was the end of Kambli the cricketer.
Prithvi Shaw – Controversies New Favorite Child and IPL contract gone
Cut to Prithvi Shaw, right in 2018 after his debut series, it was allegedly reported that he was sent back from the IND vs AUS tour, for “losing focus”. He had injured his ankle too, during that time and was ruled out. In July 2019, a few months later, Prithvi Shaw faced a doping violation and the BCCI imposed an eight-month ban.
Then an incident involving a fake injury had surfaced, where in Sydney, Ajinkya Rahane figured his shenanigans and ordered him to get back to the field. Another time, while going through a bad patch in the IPL for DC, he reportedly declined to bat in the nets, despite being asked by Ricky Ponting. Then in IPL 2022 pre-camp, he went on to fail the much-required yo-yo test too. If that is not enough, there were alleged molestation accusations by social media influencer Sapna Gill.
All that was enough to have a significant impact on his performances, that saw him getting dropped from the Mumbai Ranji team, not getting bagged by any team at the IPL Auction, and a long-standing India snub.
Prithvi Shaw’s woes continues in the ongoing 2024/25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), where he was dismissed for a duck in Mumbai’s Group E match against Services. It was his second duck of the tournament. He has amassed only 96 runs from five matches at an average of 19.20. His strike rate is under 140. Prithvi Shaw’s highest score this season remains a quickfire 40 off just 29 balls against Nagaland.
In fact, in the SMAT 2024, Prithvi Shaw yielded a modest 197 runs at an average of 21.88, with a solitary impactful knock – a 26-ball 49 in Mumbai’s quarterfinal chase against Vidarbha.
Prithvi Shaw has been at the center of a few controversies lately, including getting dropped from the Ranji Trophy team for being overweight and in disciplined. He was found to have a body fat percentage of 35% in tests, much higher than the permissible limit for players. Although he set a base price of ₹75 lakh for the IPL 2025 auction, no franchises expressed interest in him.
Few people know Shaw better than Shreyas, as the duo have not just been teammates on the Mumbai team for several years, but the 2024 IPL-winning captain also led the youngster for three seasons at Delhi Capitals (2018-20). Shreyas labelled Prithvi Shaw as a god-gifted talent but in no uncertain terms called for him to improve his work ethic. The Mumbai skipper claimed that a lot of people have given their inputs to the opening batter.
Shreyas Iyer wants ‘God-gifted’ Prithvi Shaw to improve ethics after being unsold at IPL 2025 Auction
While many players attracted big contracts at the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction, Prithvi Shaw was among those who failed to garner attention from any of the franchises.
Once deemed the next big thing in Indian cricket, Shaw has been on the sidelines for a long time now. However, he has himself to blame given his issues with fitness, performance, and off-field controversies.
The right-hander has often been in the news for the wrong reasons and has faced such a downfall that he has also been dropped from the Mumbai squad in the domestic circuit, at times.
While there is no doubt about his talent, it is simply not enough to guarantee success in the modern day. His teammate and Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer, the second-most costliest player at the IPL 2025 auction, stated that Prithvi Shaw is a God-gifted player but needs to improve his work ethic.
“I think, personally, 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,” Shreyas Iyer was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Despite having immense talent, Iyer said that Shaw is the only one who can help himself by figuring things out in this difficult phase.
“And I have said it before as well in many of the interviews. He needs to get his work ethics right. And if he does that, you know, sky is the limit for him. Can you force him to? I can’t force him. He has played so much of cricket. And everyone has given him inputs. At the end of the day, it’s his job to go out there and figure out things for himself,” Iyer said.
Moreover, the Mumbai captain also made what might sound a rather harsh but rightful comment. He said that Shaw had figured things out in the past and needed to do it again. He added that no one can force him to do anything and he needs to know what he should be doing as a professional player.
“We can’t babysit anyone, right? Every professional who is playing at this level, they need to know what they should be doing. And he has also done it in the past. It’s not that he hasn’t. He has to focus. He has to sit back, put a thinking cap on and then figure out himself. He will get the answer. No one can force him to do anything,” Shreyas concluded.
Prithvi Shaw has continued to struggle in the 2024 season. He played four Ranji Trophy matches and made just 59 runs. In the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, his performance was just ordinary with 197 runs at an average of 21.88. Barring a 26-ball 49 in the quarterfinal, Shaw failed to put up any other notable performance. In the last two games as well, he made just 8 and 10 runs respectively, not making a significant contribution in Mumbai’s triumph.