Ex-India opener Sunil Gavaskar shares why Prithvi Shaw will struggle despite recent ton in domestic cricket
Prithvi Shaw out of majority of domestic season due to knee injury
Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar thinks that youngster Prithvi Shaw is going to struggleunless he learns to play on back foot. Gavaskar's comments come after Shaw, who has been sidelined from competitive cricket due to injury for six months, recently scored a century in Ranji Trophy (India's premier domestic tournament) for Mumbai.
"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.
Also Read:‘It is unfair,‘ says India spinner Varun Chakravarthy on snub from team post 2021 T20 World Cup
Before getting injured, Shaw was playing county cricket in England.. He had scored 244 and an unbeaten 125 for Northamptonshire against Durham before getting his knee injured.
Shaw has fallen out of favour for selection in the Indian team after making his debut in 2020. He also had a poor IPL in 2023 but is now gearing up for good show in 2024. Shaw has played five Tests so far and has scored 339 runs with 134 being his highest.
In other formats, Shaw has played six ODIs but has managed 189 runs only. As for T20Is, he has just played one match, scoring a golden duck. In IPL, he has played 71 games and has scored 1,694 at an average of 23 and a strike rate of 146.
His last couple of seasons have been bad for Delhi Capitals in IPLwhere his has scored just 106 and 283 runs in 2023 and 2022, respectively. With T20 World Cup in June later this year, Shaw's good IPL 2024 could earn him a chance to get a spot in the India squad for sure.
