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Fresh batting blues for Prithvi Shaw
The young DC opener was praised as being set for a big IPL season by coach Ponting. All that confidence has dissipated after failing in his first three innings.
In a young career, Prithvi Shaw has already experienced many highs and lows. He was the captain of India's U-19 World Cup-winning side in New Zealand in 2018. He is the only player to score a century on his Test, Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy debuts.
But he has not played for India since mid-2021. He has also served an eight-month doping ban. Earlier this year, he amassed the second-highest individual score in Ranji history, scoring 379 against Assam. For the moment though, the 23-year-old is again enduring a rough phase with weaknesses in his game coming to the fore.
He’s started this IPL for Delhi Capitals with scores of 12, 7 and 0, but more than that it is the manner of dismissals that causes grave concern.
In the first game against Lucknow Super Giants, he was a tad late to react to a 147kph length ball by Mark Wood, offering a loose drive only to see the ball go through the wide gap between bat and pad and dislodge the bails. If pace led to his downfall at Lucknow, he was done in by extra bounce in the second game against Gujarat Titans on DC’s home turf. Attempting a pull off Mohammed Shami, he miscued to Alzarri Joseph at mid-on. The latest dismissal, against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on Saturday, was due to a familiar weakness — left-arm pacer Trent Boult.
Like Boult does on command, he pitched the new ball up, allowing it to swing. Shaw’s minimal footwork meant he edged behind to a diving Sanju Samson. Shaw has now been dismissed four times in 28 balls by Boult. His dismissals this season point to wide-ranging frailties against pace bowling, not what you want from a player for long earmarked as a future India regular.
Asked about Shaw’s shortcomings against pace after the 57-run defeat to Rajasthan, DC coach Ricky Ponting said: “I am not sure it’s the pace. I don’t think it is Boult’s pace that worried him today. The moving ball probably worried him today. If any of you were at training to watch his batting yesterday, he looked like a million dollars. His preparation was great. He’s got a poor record now against left-armers, which every opposition team will know. That’s something we probably have to work on with him.”
Whenever he scores runs in domestic cricket for Mumbai, there’s a clamour for his India selection. It perhaps stems from the visual appeal his shot-making entails. His last India call-up came for a T20I series against New Zealand in January on the back of the triple ton against Assam. On the evidence of the ongoing IPL though, he needs to sharpen his skills against top-class quicks for him to harbour ambitions of a long international career.
That he is not the sharpest of movers in the outfield is also likely to work against him. On Saturday, Shaw did not feature in Capitals’ original playing eleven, coming on only as an ‘Impact Player’ in the second innings for his batting. If he is to be donning the India jersey regularly, he cannot be seen as a liability on the field.
Shaw’s poor run is in sharp contrast to how fellow openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR) have grabbed their opportunities this season. Having put in extensive work during Delhi’s training camp before the season, the signs seemed promising when Ponting picked out Shaw for lavish praise.
“This season, something seems to have clicked with Prithvi,” Ponting had told reporters before the tournament began. “He’s done extra work in every session since we’ve been here, whether it’s on his batting, fielding or fitness. That’s a great sign. He’s worked hard and trained better than I have ever seen him leading up to an IPL. I honestly feel this is going to be his biggest season ever in IPL. We are going to see the real Prithvi Shaw this season.”
Given the fickle nature of T20 and Shaw’s stroke-making ability, he could still produce a few innings of note this season. But for us to see the real Shaw beyond that, he will have to sort out the problems apparent against pace.
