Prithvi Shaw once again came under a lot of fire after he failed to score big for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final against Madhya Pradesh on Sunday. While Mumbai ended up clinching the trophy quite easily, Prithvi was dismissed for 10 off 6 deliveries. It has been a tough year for Prithvi after he went unsold in the IPL 2025 auction.
India cricketer Shreyas Iyer reckons young Prithvi Shaw would need to improve his work ethics to grow in the sport. With 197 runs at an average of 21.88, Shaw has surely not been doing justice to his talent and that also meant he got snubbed by the IPL owners at the mega auction. Mumbai's captain, Shreyas Iyer, praised Shaw's talent but underlined the need for introspection. Speaking after Mumbai's final victory against Madhya Pradesh in Bengaluru, Shreyas said: "I think, personally, he is a God-gifted player. The amount of talent he possesses as an individual, no one has it. That's true. It's just that he needs to improve his work ethics.
“And I have said it before as well in many of the interviews. He needs to get his work ethics right. And if he does that, you know, sky is the limit for him. Can you force him to? I can't force him. He has played so much of cricket. And everyone has given him inputs. At the end of the day, it's his job to go out there and figure out things for himself,” he added. "We can't babysit anyone, right? Every professional who is playing at this level, they need to know what they should be doing. And he has also done it in the past. It's not that he hasn't. He has to focus. He has to sit back, put a thinking cap on and then figure out himself. He will get the answer. No one can force him to do anything," said Shreyas.
Shaw was touted as the next great batting talent for India but has faced a sudden decline in his career. Prithvi Shaw made an impressive start to his international career, scoring 134 runs on his Test debut against the West Indies in 2018. However, he struggled to secure a permanent spot in the national team as other players like Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal overtook him in the selection pecking order.
Shaw's 2023-24 season was marred by a knee injury during his stint with Northamptonshire, forcing him to miss both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. He returned with a solid Ranji Trophy performance - 451 runs at an average of 50.11, offering a glimmer of hope but floundered in IPL 2024, scoring just 198 runs at an average of 24.75, with a lone fifty, and spent six games on the bench.
