'Prithvi Shaw will have his biggest season in IPL 2023': Ricky Ponting's colossal prediction
The upcoming season of IPL could prove to be a big one for Prithvi Shaw and Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting is hopeful for the same.
Prithvi Shaw has often been labeled as the next big thing in Indian cricket but the explosive batter has failed to meet the expectation when it comes to international circuit. Becoming the first player from the 2018 U19 batch to get an India debut, that too in the same year, Shaw has represented the country in all the three formats but with very limited opportunities. In fact, Shubman Gill, his peer from the same batch overtook Shaw and is currently being touted as the hottest property for his commanding knocks in recent outings.
However, the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL) could prove to be a big one for the Delhi Capitals batter and head coach Ricky Ponting is hopeful for the same. "He's been here right from the start actually. He was training at the NCA and left there as soon as he could to come and join our training camps. He's worked harder and trained better than I've ever seen Prithvi Shaw leading into an IPL before. He's in better physical shape than I've ever seen him before.
"I spoke with him the other day about his attitude and the way that he's working and how things are going. And I honestly feel this is going to be his biggest season ever in the IPL. He just has that different look in his eye this year. You can see him probably hungry than ever.
“And yeah he has had some success for us. But I think you know the the level of talent and ability that he's got, I think we're really going to see the real Prithvi Shaw this season,” the ex-Australian cricketer told reporters in New Delhi on Friday.
As Ponting mentioned, Shaw will definitely be ‘hungry’ to do exactly what he's been doing in the domestic circuit and present a case for himself. The cricketer has piled a staggering number of runs in both red and white-ball domestic tournaments. In fact he amassed 595 runs from six Ranji Trophy matches at a healthy average of 59.50. If we shift our focus to T20s, Shaw finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23. He amassed 332 runs from 10 encounters, while maintaining a strike-rate of 181.42, the most by any batter in the tournament.
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Shaw, who was handed a suspension for eight months in 2019 over doping violation, is not new to off-field controversies. The cricketer found himself in an unwanted situation last month involving a fan in Mumbai, who reportedly tried to injure Shaw with a baseball bat. However, Ponting believes Shaw is “in a better space than ever before".
"You know one thing that I always say to our players is 'I don't like laziness and I don't like guys not utilizing the talent that they've got'. If I can see that guys aren't working as hard as they should, they're not getting the most out of them, then it's up to me to try and change that.
"So it just seems to me that this season something has really clicked with Prithvi. He seems in a better space than ever before. In fact, he's done extra work every session since we've been here, whether it's been on his batting, his fitness or his fielding.
“So that's a great sign. And as I said the game of cricket, if you don't pay full attention to the game, it'll take away from you. But if you put in and do the hard yards then the game will give back to you all the time,” said Ponting.
Shaw will be leading Delhi's charge with the bat alongside David Warner, who Ponting confirmed will open the innings rather coming at the number four position as seen in the recently-concluded India-Australia ODI series.
