New Delhi, India
Former Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif slammed Prithvi Shaw after the youngster went unsold in the just-concluded IPL 2025 mega auction, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Shaw had a base price of INR 7.5 million (75 lakhs), but still failed to find any takers in the two-day mega auction. Kaif has worked closely with Shaw during his tenure as Delhi Capitals (DC) assistant coach and revealed how the team management kept giving chances to Shaw but the Indian opener hardly got going for the DC franchise, where he played from 2018-2024.
'He had a lot of potential and DC backed him to the hilt'
Speaking on Jio Cinema during the IPL auction, Kaif said, "Delhi has backed Prithvi Shaw a lot. DC hoped he is a powerplay player and would hit 6 boundaries in one over. And he did that too. He hit Shivam Mavi for 6 fours in an over. He had a lot of potential and DC backed him to the hilt. We always thought that if Shaw manages to score, we will win. And we gave him a lot of chances."
Also read: IPL Mega Auction 2025: Final updated and full squads of all 10 franchises
'It is a matter of embarrassment that he did not get a bid'
Kaif further opined, "There were meetings at night where we would sit and ponder if Prithvi should play because he has been failing. So at night we would decide that Prithvi would not be in the playing XI, and then later on the day of the match, we would change our decision - that, no he will because maybe if he goes big, we would win." He added, "Prithvi got a lot of chances and teams have now finally moved on, and it is a matter of embarrassment that he did not get a bid for Rs 75 lakh. Maybe now, he finally goes back to basics. Someone like Sarfaraz Khan got into the national team by scoring lots and lots of runs."
Shaw rose to fame after leading India to the U-19 World Cup title in 2018. He earned an IPL contract from the DC franchise, then known as the Delhi Daredevils (DD), but ended his journey with the team with 1,892 runs in 79 matches, at an average of 23.95 and strike-rate of 147.47.