Nothing is going on in favor of the Mumbai opening batter, Prithvi Shaw, in recent times, but the graphics have gone down tremendously. At the start of his career, the right-handed batter was supposed to be the future of Indian cricket and its generational talent. He was scoring runs freely besides, leading the U-19 Indian side to their World Cup in 2018.
Soon, that led Prithvi Shaw to make his debut in Test cricket against the West Indies in Rajkot, where he celebrated his century. He also had a good time in the opening Test against New Zealand in 2020, having collected overall 339 runs in nine innings at an average of 42.37 and a strike rate of more than 86 with the help of two half-centuries and one century.
However, he was dropped after a very poor outing in the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2020-21 when he had no idea at the Adelaide Oval in the day-night Test match. In six innings of the One Day Internationals, the batter has collected 189 runs at an average of 31.50 and a strike rate of more than 113.85 with a best score of 49.
Also Read: Fakhar Zaman Discouraged With PCB’s Treatment!! Ignored For ODIs And T20Is vs South Africa
The biggest surprise of the last week in the mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was when no team showed any interest in Prithvi Shaw. The batter didn’t appear in the auction at any point in time, which meant that no franchise even turned up to him at once.
“Sab uska fayda he utha rahe hai”- Sanjay Potnis on Prithvi Shaw
In 79 innings of the 20-over league, the 25-year-old has smashed 1892 runs in 79 innings at an average of 23.94 and a strike rate of around 147 with the help of 14 half-centuries. The previous few seasons weren’t up to the mark for the batter who could add just 198 runs in eight IPL innings at an average of just under 25 and a strike rate of over 163, followed by his 106 runs in 2023 for the Delhi Capitals.
Questions have started to arise over his current lifestyle and the lack of motivation for the game. The MLA from Kalina, Sanjay Potnis, has now expressed that the batter hasn’t got the right people around him.
He also felt that the people near Prithvi Shaw were taking him for a ride and hadn’t shown any concern for the hard work he needed to do to make a comeback.
“His game is not bad, the people around him are of different kinds. No one is taking care of his sport, sab uska faayda he utha rahe hai. No one is with him at the moment, he is dependent on himself. After he left (Santacruz to Juhu to Bandra), no one took care of him.” Sanjay told the Indian Express.
Potnis was the first person who offered help to the Shaw family by providing them with a flat in Santacruz, which helped him cut down the travel from Virar.
In the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024-25, the batter has been underwhelming for the Mumbai side, having added two ducks on six occasions when he has batted. Among the 130 runs he has bagged, the highest has come against Nagaland.
The former England batter, Kevin Pietersen, has urged Prithvi Shaw to work on his game and be away from the socials.
“If Prithvi Shaw has decent people around him who care about his long-term success, they’d sit him down, tell him to get off social media & train his absolute backside off in getting super fit. It’ll get him back on the correct path where past success can return. Too talented to throw it all away.” The former batter wrote on ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter).