The consensus on the grounds in Mumbai is that Prithvi Shaw can still revive his game at 25.
But with his alleged current lifestyle, apparently poor level of fitness and serious questions over his drive and motivation, a much-desired comeback seems a long way off. But the concern of the young batsman, once anointed as Mumbai’s next big name, overrides everything else.
“I still think he can make a comeback,” prefaced Kalina MLA Sanjay Potnis, who was the first person from Mumbai to help reduce his travel time by providing a small flat in Santacruz. Virar. Potanis blames fame and money for bringing Prithvi into uncooperative company. ‘His game is not bad, the people around him are different. No one cares about his sports, sab uscha fayda hai ut raha hai. Now he has no one with him, he is dependent on himself. After he was gone (Santacruz to Juhu to Bandra) there was no one to look after him. Those around him are taking advantage, here there is ghumate hain bus,’ alleged Potanis.
It has been a miserable autumn since he was unpicked in the IPL mega auction, and his attitude is being questioned. Social media continues to cause grief. On the day he was dropped from the Mumbai Ranji squad, a video clip of him dancing at a birthday party surfaced. He has often wondered aloud to his closest friends why he is perennially judged, while others are never questioned for the same thing.
To understand Shaw, one must go back to his past. Shaw was brought up by his father in Virar, where he tried to make a successful retail clothing business. “They weren’t well off. His father had tried to start a business but it didn’t work out. They had seen hard times and growing up Shaw had to rely on the help of others. It wasn’t easy. And he didn’t have a mother (she passed away) to make him do it. can show the way,” recalls Raju Pathak, who was Shaw’s coach at Rizvi Springfield School during his school days.
However, in 2021, Shaw was seen on the track. He is known as a smart cricket mind. Back in the Ranji Trophy or the IPL, Shaw was known to spend hours with the video analyst dissecting his opponents. He saw himself as a leader and requested the selectors to make him Mumbai’s captain for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2021. Undeterred at first, the Mumbai selectors agreed as they felt such players excel when asked for responsibility. Mumbai won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2021 and Shaw scored 827 runs with four centuries and one half-century in eight matches.
The franchisees may have hoped so when they called him before the auction saying it was on their wish list. But when his name was not mentioned, no paddle was raised.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has advised the opener. “Some of the best sports stories are comeback stories. If Prithvi Shaw had decent people around her who cared about her long-term success, they would sit her down, get her off social media and train her whole backside off to get super fit. That would put her on the right track. Will return where past success can return. Too talented to throw it all away,” he posted on his social media handle ‘X’.
But social media also reproduces clips of him engaging in pub fights or celebrating his birthday. Pathak says, the world wants Shaw to behave like a 40-year-old mature man. ‘He has been successful very quickly. A boy who once saw a daily struggle and lack of money at home suddenly has a good bank balance. So when the money is coming, he will enjoy it and this happens with all the players who are deprived of this thing. They want to live their lives, this is what they want. Fame, money. There were players who crossed the same path in the past. The problem is that we want 25-year-old Shaw to behave like a mature 40-year-old,’ argues Pathak.
Former cricketers believe that Shaw should find the answer himself. The battle, they say, is not between the world and Sha but between Sha and Sha himself.
Former Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Ranji Trophy coach Praveen Amre says things can change if Shaw takes care of his fitness.
“What we want, to be honest, is for him to lose 10 kg and become match fit. What is holding him back is his fitness. No one doubts his cricketing skills. He is god-like but the problem is that he is his own enemy. Now , I don’t think anyone can motivate him. I think he can’t help himself anymore. Go and hit the net Both should be hit,” says Amre.
He advised Shaw to hire a personal trainer. Amre says that many cricketers in the past have gone far and gone to such a stage. “But in his case, that time has been long and we are concerned. He should not go in the opposite direction from here. He’s an adult now, to be honest, he should help himself now. His hand-eye coordination is good. But for that time, he needs proper footwork. And because of that body weight, he’s slow to the ball. He is not able to transfer weight, his legs are not moving. He is not in the right position. So we want him to work on his fitness,” says Amre.