Kolkata : Former Indian Cricketer and Delhi Capitals (DC) assistant coach Mohammad Kaif has taken a dig at Indian youngster Prithvi Shaw getting unsold at IPL 2025 Mega Auction.
Shaw was presented in the Auction with base prize of 75 Lakhs, but surprisingly not a single franchise, not even Delhi Capitals, where he played for 6 years, or Ricky Ponting coached Punjab Kings showed any interest in him. He wasn’t even called in the accelerated auction round. As a result, he went unsold.
Speaking to Jio Cinema, former Assistant coach Md Kaif made shocking revelations on Shaw’s stint at Delhi.
He recalled a time where he himself and then head coach Ricky Ponting would decide to drop an out of form Shaw from playing 11 following flop shows at night but then decide to back him in the team following day to give him more chances. However, Shaw never capitalized those opportunities and underperformed, with last season his form hitting rock bottom.
“Delhi backed Prithvi Shaw a lot because the expectation was that he is a powerplay specialist and he can hit six boundaries in one over. Well, he did do it once against Shivam Mavi. So there was potential and so we backed him a lot because we though if he can score big, we will definitely win. In fact there were so many times we sat in the meeting and Ponting and me discussed whether we should pick him or not. So a lot of times we would drop him from the team by night because we felt he was out of form following a flop show, but in the morning, just before toss, we would pick him again, thinking that maybe he could score today. But then Delhi moved on and Shaw is to blame for this,” Kaif said.
However, Kaif also said that it was rather shocking for him seeing Shaw unsold and stated a lower base prize than 75 lakhs could have drawn bidders. Concluding his statement on this matter, Kaif advised Shaw to return to Domestic Cricket, perform well and then comeback to bigger circuit yet again just like Sarfaraz Khan did.
“There are so many players who don’t get so many opportunities, but he got a lot. Now the fact that no one bought him at the auction is shameful. Even for INR 75 lakh he found no bidders. He now has to go back to the drawing board, score runs in domestic cricket and then get picked. Sarfaraz Khan is the biggest example,” he said.
‘…. It hurts….’ , Prithvi Shaw reacts after getting trolled on social media
Prithvi Shaw, who was dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji team few days before reacted to trolls and memes he received against him on social media.
The 25 years old opened up on constant trolling and revealed that it hurts him when people troll. Not only this, but he also talked about the backlash he received from fans after one of his videos dancing on his birthday went viral. Shaw, as quoted by Sportskeeda, said in a viral video, ”Trolling isn’t a good thing, but it’s not so bad either. Sometimes there we get trolled and we all cricketers see it. I don’t know about the rest, but I see them. If there are memes on me, or when someone trolls me, or if someone has posted something, that too. I see all the trolling and memes, and it hurts.”
He added, ‘I’m not saying that it makes you laugh. That is a bit wrong. You shouldn’t do such things. Wherever I go, they say Prithvi is not practising. But I think that it’s my birthday. I recently got trolled for dancing with my sisters and friends on my birthday. My sister put it up on social media and I got trolled for that. I think that I can at least celebrate on one day.”
Another post of Shaw that caught attention was his Instagram story with a picture of Sai Baba and a caption that read, “Hope you are watching everything, SAI BABA.” Shaw had previously posted similar content when he faced a snub or was at a difficult juncture in his life and career.
From making headlines , scoring hundreds in domestic and international debut, being considered the next Sachin Tendulkar, after such heroics and leading his side to U19 2018 WC win, Shaw’s career has hit rock bottom. Only solid domestic performances can bring him back on track.
