‘Somebody called him Tendulkar, somebody called him Lara…’: DC co-owner says Prithvi Shaw needed IPL unsold jolt

Mumbai batter Prithvi Shaw was a wunderkind. He began reaching great heights very early in his career, including winning the U-19 World Cup as a captain, which left many labelling him as the next big thing in Indian cricket. In 2018, he made his international debut, and on scoring a century in that Rajkot Test against West Indies, Ravi Shastri famously compared him to Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag. But over the next few years, things began to fall apart, amid a few off-field controversies, and Shaw reached a new low last Monday, when he was ignored by all 10 IPL franchises during the mega auction in Jeddah.

In 2018, he was acquired by Delhi Capitals, who then retained him as well ahead of the mega auction in 2022 for INR 7.5 crore. However, amid a string of poor shows, Shaw was dropped from the playing XI, and the released by the franchise last month.

On Monday, he was presented at the mega auction in Jeddah for a base price of INR 75 lakh, but found no bidders. Shaw was not recalled during the accelerated round of the auction.

‘Somebody called him Lara, somebody called him Sachin’

Speaking to India Today, Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal did not mince words as he felt that Shaw needed this “jolt.” He further said that the India batter grew up listening to experts and veteran cricketers comparing him with legendary cricketers like Sachin, and he gained early success as well, but he failed to live up to the expectations.

“Prithvi is a great kid, but is misunderstood in many ways. I think, one in a while, we all need a jolt, and need to be shaken up from our slump. But when all your life you grow up hearing that you are the special open, the most talented, and is the only other batsman in the world other than Sachin and Kohli to own an MRF bat, that tells you a lot. Somebody called him Lara, somebody called him Sachin, or the next big thing...so grew up in that environment. Everyone from Mumbai cricket was talking about him. Mumbai has given us Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, and now they were talking about him. So, this is that one jolt Prithvi needed. Till now he was on a fat IPL contract and playing across formats for Mumbai and was starting for Delhi,” he said.

The Managing Director of JSW Cements urged Shaw to work on his fitness and discipline and hoped he bounces back from this low.

“He needs to work hard and get back to loving the game again, and work on his fitness and discipline. I hope he comes back and becomes the Prithvi Shaw he had known,” he added.