Prithvi Shaw's 'talent' still missed despite Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre's rise: 'Ended up spoiling his cricket'

Dinesh Lad, who has witnessed Shaw's journey since childhood, expressed his disappointment that he chose the wrong path, which ultimately led to his downfall.

Rohit Sharma's childhood coach Dinesh Lad asserted that Prithvi Shaw’s downfall has been an unfortunate one. He said that since childhood, Shaw was a talented player but went down the wrong path, which spoiled his cricket. Shaw was once touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket, and a century on his international debut made then-head coach Ravi Shastri compare him to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Brian Lara. The young batter once made headlines in the early years of his IPL career for his explosive stroke play, but in recent seasons, his fortunes have taken a steep dive, to the point where he went unsold in the most recent mega auction.

Dinesh Lad suggested that the absence of Prithvi Shaw’s talent still felt despite the emergence of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre. (AP and IPL Images)

Shaw has fallen quite low in the pecking order to make a comeback in the Indian team, while Shubman Gill, who played under his captaincy in the U-19 World Cup, recently became the Test skipper. His other U-19 teammates like Arshdeep Singh and Riyan Parag have also made a mark in the Indian team, with the former securing a place across all formats, while the all-rounder is steadily making his way into the white-ball setup.

Lad, who has witnessed Shaw's journey since childhood, expressed his disappointment that he chose the wrong path, which ultimately led to his downfall.

“I have seen Prithvi since his childhood, from the time he was 10 years old. He was a highly talented player. But as I have said, everyone’s journey is individual, and I don’t know what exactly happened with him. Still, Prithvi Shaw was a very talented cricketer. Unfortunately, he went down the wrong path and ended up spoiling his cricket," Lad said on a podcast with Gaurav Mangalani.

'Even now there should be a batter like Prithvi Shaw'

He further stated Indian cricket is in safe hands with emerging stars like Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatri making waves in IPL and age-group level cricket. However, he still suggested that the talent of someone like Shaw is still missing despite the rise of other young batters.

“Even now, I feel there should be a batter like him, the way he used to bat. Although right now we have some truly outstanding batters. For example, the way Vaibhav Suryavanshi is batting, and the way Ayush Mhatre is batting. These are future cricketers in the making. They are getting ready in line. Indian cricket is almost at the top,” he added.