‘Even if he gets out hitting, it does not matter’: Aakash Chopra not happy with the ‘my way or highway’ attitude of Prithvi Shaw
Prithvi Shaw was criticised by former India opener Aakash Chopra for losing his wicket early and putting pressure on other batsmen. He finished the season with just 228 runs which came at an average of 17.53.
Delhi Capitals had a lot of positives this season. The perennial underperformers of the Indian Premier League rebooted their franchise last year and started exceeding expectations. They have been one of the most consistent teams in the IPL for the past two seasons. In 2020, DC reached the final of the tournament but lost out to five-time champions Mumbai Indians. A lot of players performed incredibly well while some underwhelmed.
In the category of underwhelming performers comes young opener Prithvi Shaw. The 21-year-old started the season on a positive note as he hit a fifty against Kolkata Knight Riders while striking 42 runs against RCB in the following match. But it did not go down as planned for the batsman as he failed to get going in the following matches.
He was criticised for losing his wicket early and putting pressure on other batsmen. He finished the season with just 228 runs which came at an average of 17.53.
Now with the mega auctions looming large, Shaw could lose out his place in the team. Former India opener Aakash Chopra is also not happy with the way Shaw batted when the chips were down as he criticised him for his attitude.
“Prithvi Shaw started well, he was playing good shots and scoring runs but after that, it just went downhill and then just could not come back which is not a good thing. He is young but is an India player and you expect more consistency from him,” Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“It is possible that the strike rate might be less one day but here it looked like his attitude was ‘my way or the highway’. He will hit and even if he gets out hitting, it does not matter and that he will not have a different gear even after getting dropped from the side.”
“So that is something that was a bit of a problem because this was a very crucial year as it would determine whom the Delhi Capitals will retain and whom they will let go,” he added.
Shaw was dropped by the team management for the knockout matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians as DC opted to promote Marcus Stoinis up the order instead of him.