Prithvi Shaw : Prodigy or Not? | The natural rise and abrupt fall of Prithvi Shaw

 If you're a cricket fan or an active Twitter user, you may know who Prithvi Shaw is. An aggressive opening batsman who led the Indian Under-19 Team to World Cup triumph back in 2018. His stellar stroke-play, formidable footwork, and immaculate consistency made him play division A cricket at a tender age of 8-9. His limitless potential was noticed at an early age when SG made a sponsorship deal worth Rs. 36,00,000 with him at the tender age of 14. Since then his abilities have been compared to those of batting legends like Sachin, Sehwag, and Lara. The following article provides an insightful look at the natural rise and abrupt fall of Prithvi Shaw. 

A talent; one for the ages

Things were looking decent for young Prithvi Shaw when he made his Test debut for India against the Windies back in October 2018. Shaw has been signed to the Delhi Capitals for a lavish deal worth Rs. 1.2 Cr since 2018 and the 21-year-old was also given his ODI cap against New Zealand earlier this year as well.

Widely considered the next prodigy of Indian Cricket, things haven't quite been going well for the Mumbai-born. Even though he's been removed from the limited-overs squad and continues to be with the test team, Shaw's position may be at risk because of his horrendous form and a tweak in his batting technique.

So, Where did it all go wrong?

Shaw had a decent start to his IPL 2020 season in September but he seemed to lose his way mid-way through the tournament. He was dropped after a string of low scores where he failed to go past 20 odd runs in 5 back to back innings including with a few ducks. He was brought back into the squad after a few matches but his form seemed to be lost. After getting out early in important matches during the later stage of the tournament, Shaw was once again removed from the playing 11, ending his dreadful season run with just 228 runs with a below-par average of 17. At the other end, his opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan managed to score a mammoth total of 617 runs in the 17 matches he played for the capital side.

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The final nail in the coffin?

Things haven't been rosy for the gifted youngster in Test cricket as well. Shaw's recent scores in the practice matches against Australia A have been 0(2), 19(31), 40(29), and 3(8). He was also dismissed early during the first match against Australia for 0(2) and 4(4) in the first and second innings respectively. In his last 12 outings with the bat, Prithvi has scores of 0, 0, 7, 10, 9, 0, 0, 19, 40, 3, 0 and 4.

With all things said, things aren't looking well for the talented opener as many cricketing experts have been questioning his selection and some of them have gone on record to say that maybe he doesn't have what it takes all along. He's also been the butt of all jokes on the internet because of his terrible form and people on Twitter have been roasting his bad form mercilessly. So is this it for Prithvi Shaw? Has the miracle kid lost his charm? Will he be included in the list of Under-19 World Cup-winning captains who were almost certain to have legendary International careers but failed to crack it? Well, time will tell that.

What does the future hold for the 21-year-old?

Prithvi must really be doubting his abilities right now and in my opinion, he needs a great domestic season to get his confidence and form back. Apart from that, he needs to work on his batting technique as well. The gap between the bat and his body goes on ever-increasing while he bats. He must start afresh and forget about what's done and dusted in the past. The 21-year-old has shown glimpses of greatness with his bat and it would be a shame if he gets forgotten in the list of  "Players who couldn't make it in the big leagues" for not just Indian Cricket, but cricket as a whole.