‘Prithvi Shaw going to struggle’: Gavaskar lacks faith despite Ranji Trophy ton

Prithvi Shaw may have struck a timely century in the Ranji Trophy to storm back into form ahead of IPL 2024, but Sunil Gavaskar is not convinced that the youngster has done enough to have a cracking season ahead, most prominently, the IPL 2024. Fitness and form have kept Shaw away from the limelight as after scoring 244 and an unbeaten 125 for Northamptonshire against Durham at last year’s County championship in August, a knee injury sidelined him for a lengthy period of time.
After a six-month injury layoff, Shaw returned to competitive cricket, representing Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, where he scored 35 against Bengal and followed it with a cracking hundred against Chhattisgarh. Representing the Delhi Capitals, Shaw will be raring to go as the franchise chases its maiden IPL title. However, if Gavaskar is to be believed, Shaw will be held back by a technical flaw in his batting, likely to ensure the bowlers get the wood over him.
“Time for him to step up but what has happened is that a lot of teams have found that because of his predominant movement onto the front foot and that high backlift, they go the short way with him. So unless he starts to learn to play off the back foot, he is going to struggle. If the pitches are such where the ball doesn’t come up, then it will be fantastic for him,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Six years since Shaw played his first Test for India and lit it up with a century on debut, his career has swung the entire arc. In and out of the team, Shaw last made an appearance for India in July of 2021 during their limited-overs tour of India. The closest he has come to playing for India since was back in January of last year, when Shaw was picked in India’s squad for the New Zealand T20Is but never got a game.
During the last Ranji Trophy, Shaw blew hot and cold, scoring 595 runs in 10 innings, which comprised a record 379 off 383 balls against Assam. And still, it wasn’t enough to earn him a call back into the team. That he did not have the greatest of seasons with DC could have played a part. Following up on a 283-run season in 2022, expectations were high from Shaw, but all he could manage was 106 runs from eight matches before getting dropped from the Playing XI.
The past year and a half have been a tad tumultuous for Shaw, who despite hitting cricketing setbacks, was embroiled in a controversy with an influencer. But finally, with all distractions out of the way, Shaw, after undergoing intense rehabilitation at the NCA, is fiercely motivated to give it his all for Mumbai and keen to hit the ground running.