Prithvi Shaw’s career has been a whirlwind affair, one that has been both marvellous at times and disturbing at others. A product once billed as the next Sachin Tendulkar, this young cricketer from Mumbai has seen his career take off on the wrong kind of fast track. The latest setback to his once-promising cricketing career is the news “Prithvi Shaw dropped from Ranji Trophy squad,” further fuelling speculation over his future.
Reasons seem to exist in terms of fitness and discipline since he was excluded from the Mumbai squad ahead of the Ranji Trophy. He is no exception to the domestic cricket spree; his form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has also been patchy, and not seen much play for Delhi Capitals in the 2023 season playing XI. In this blog, we will discuss some top Prithvi Shaw’s controversies taking a dig at his career.
Timeline of Prithvi Shaw’s Controversies
Conjectures have engulfed Prithvi Shaw’s career in cricket from doping violations to disciplinary issues that have marred his performance and reputation. Let’s check a few.
Doping Violation, Jun 2020
Just when Shaw was about to prove himself as one of the prominent players in the team after their win in the Under-19 World Cup, a major controversy rocked the cricketing world of this young sensation in June 2020. The BCCI had suspended the cricketer for eight months after he had tested positive for Ergometrine, a banned substance found in cough syrup.
Here, the inconsistency exposed a massive blow to his credibility since he had to derail his career temporarily. Debates also emerged on his decision-making skills and how it affected his fitness and discipline.
Technical Blunders Exposed, Dec 2020
It was during India’s tour of Australia in 2020 when Prithvi Shaw was included in the team as an opener. His technical frailty was brutally exposed to the world. A much-talked-about incident when commentator and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who had also coached Shaw at Delhi Capitals, had pointed out the technical deficiency of Shaw live on air just moments before Shaw was bowled by Mitchell Starc.
The inability to play towards incoming deliveries exposed the young cricketer vulnerable and threw him out of the playing XI. His technical problems could not be divorced from his faltering form, which further summed up the argument for his unfitness and lack of focus.
Ponting Calls Out Shaw’s Indiscipline, Apr 2021
Ricky Ponting did not lambast Prithvi Shaw just on his on-field showings. Ponting lambasted the young batsman during IPL 2021 by calling him undisciplined and unwilling to put in work. Here is what went wrong: Shaw apparently refused to train with the former during a session in the nets.
All he said was that he was okay and was following his own routine, raising a lot of questions about working ethic and the ability to follow the guidance of experienced coaches. Such “Prithvi Shaw disciplinary problems” soon became a relentless pattern in the young career, which weighed poorly on his dedication to the game.
Public Brawls and Court Cases
Public Ruckus, Feb 2023
By 2023, Shaw’s cricketing career had sunk from the fall. His name was not frequent on the Indian national side anymore. Shubman Gill, his competitor, has kept the team intact for some time now. But the final straw came in an ugly public brawl in Mumbai, wherein, after a huge melee involving fans and others seeking selfies, Shaw’s car was vandalised.
The whole incident was splashed across national headlines, which doesn’t exactly bode well for someone’s reputation. Such “Prithvi Shaw’s controversies” have somehow marred his image, affecting his public perception.
Axed from Ranji Trophy Squad: The Latest in the List of Prithvi Shaw’s Controversies
Shaw Dropped from Ranji Trophy Squad, Oct 2024
The most recent and harshest setback to Prithvi Shaw’s career was in October 2024. Reportedly, he has been dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy squad. As seems clear, the news of “Prithvi Shaw dropped from the Ranji Trophy squad” has added more scepticism as to his future in Indian cricket.
His exclusion is reportedly due to fitness and discipline issues and represents a pattern of unfulfilled promises. According to sources, Shaw had been patchy in his practice for the team, one of the reasons that led to his exclusion from the list. This is a massive setback for the young cricketer who was once touted as the future of Indian cricket.
A Career Full of Promise But Yet to be Actuated
Shaw’s career promised much and began so bright and promising. He started his test cricket for India in October 2018 and made a century with which he became the youngest Indian batsman to have scored a century. Shaw’s initial runs began to draw comparisons with the legend Sachin Tendulkar, and people started feeling he was destined for greater things.
However, “disciplinary issues” of Prithvi Shaw and their inconsistency in form have always halted his progress, which brings disappointment to cricketing experts and fans. It has been a curse to his career, which could have soared to greater heights, by his lack of concentration both on and off the field.
The doping scandal in 2020, along with a failure to seal his position in the national team owing to technical shortcomings, is just the tip of the iceberg. Shaw’s off-field controversies including the infamous February 2023 brawl and his repeated absence from team practice sessions, besides several other issues which form this gestalt, will only be an addendum to hypotheses regarding his future.
The question remains: How long Shaw can be kept out of the Indian squad as well as now out of the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team? The back-to-back controversies speak poorly of his commitment to the sport. Talent is without measure and Shaw has it; such issues notwithstanding, his career will chart a way not in the direction he might have wanted it.
Can Shaw Bounce Back?
While Prithvi Shaw’s controversies and recent form have been a worrying affair, most people still believe that the 24-year-old could recover fully. This would call for a complete overhaul of his approach toward fitness, discipline, and on-field performance, though. At this point, there is a need to address “Prithvi Shaw’s disciplinary issues” which have haunted him and his work.
As a result, it is hard to regain the trust of his coaches and teammates. Being excluded from the Ranji Trophy squad should wake him up and help him get to work; he needs to prove his critics wrong.
Prithvi Shaw’s career from being a cricketing prodigy to being dropped repeatedly from squads, is a cautionary tale. His fitness, form, and discipline issues have certainly marred his once bright future. To redeem his career, on-field performance is not enough. Instead, Shaw needs to deal with off-field controversies that keep undermining his potential.
Whether he recovers from this difficult stretch remains to be seen, but the trail that he is on undoubtedly would teach aspiring athletes that winning requires a great deal more than just character, discipline, and hard work to sustain a successful sports career.
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