Ricky Ponting, who has worked with Prithvi Shaw for two seasons at the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, rightfully predicted the chink in the youngster’s armour the ball before he was cleaned up by Mitchell Starc in India’s first innings. Shaw offered a huge gap between bat and pad and was out for a second-ball duck.
In the second innings, that same technical flaw came back to haunt Shaw again, as the batsman was once again bowled through the ‘gate’. Ponting examined both dismissals frame-wise on Channel7, explaining how besides the huge gap between his bat and pad, there is one more technical crack that is affecting Shaw.
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“In the first innings, Mitchell Starc brought one back through the gate. You see that he tried to make slight adjustments in the second innings. The gap wasn’t big, but the problem, the worry is that his front foot is not planted. His front foot is still in the air. He’s late on the ball, he’s late moving his weight into,” Ponting explained.
Shaw got off the mark with a single down the legside and later ran a three with his opening partner Mayank Agarwal as India began their second innings, hoping to stretch their first innings lead of 53. It had extended to not more than 60 when Pat Cummins removed Shaw in the fourth over of the innings, which forced India to send out Jasprit Bumrah as the nightwatchman, who safely negotiated the remaining 2.5 overs.
{{/usCountry}}Shaw got off the mark with a single down the legside and later ran a three with his opening partner Mayank Agarwal as India began their second innings, hoping to stretch their first innings lead of 53. It had extended to not more than 60 when Pat Cummins removed Shaw in the fourth over of the innings, which forced India to send out Jasprit Bumrah as the nightwatchman, who safely negotiated the remaining 2.5 overs.
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But that doesn’t take away anything from the fact that Shaw is struggling with quite a few technical gaps in his batting, which Ponting figured out. “He actually gets a full stride forward there (referring to the image in the first innings). That eliminates that gap between bat and pad, “ the former Australia captain added.
“You see his foot is off the ground and you have another look at that because he makes about three movements with his front foot. His front foot doesn’t actually go anywhere.”