Prithvi Shaw reveals he 'broke down' after being dropped in Australia

[Mosher]

Prithvi Shaw has amassed 754 runs for Mumbai in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy - including four centuries in seven innings - at an average of 188.50. His runs, which have come at the staggering strike rate of 134.88, include innings of 227*, 185* and 165. On the way, Shaw set a new record for most runs in a Vijay Hazare season, passing Mayank Agarwal's mark of 723 runs in 2017-18.

 

These highs have followed the bitterest of lows for Shaw, who was dropped from India's Test XI after making 0 and 4 in the first Test of their tour of Australia, getting dismissed in similar manner in both innings, bowled through the gap between bat and pad.

Speaking to the The Indian Express, Shaw recalled his experience in Australia, and his frame of mind after getting dropped, which swung between despair at his own situation and happiness at the success of his team-mates, who went on to pull off a 2-1 series win.

 

"I was in complete tension when I was dropped after the first Test," Shaw said. "I got a feeling like I was worthless though I was happy that the team was doing well. I said to myself, 'I need to pull up my socks'. There is a saying, 'hard work beats talent'. I told myself all this talent is fine but it's of no use if I don't work hard.

"It was the saddest day of my life (when he was dropped). I went to my room and broke down. I felt like something wrong was happening. I needed answers quickly."

 

A lot of experts pointed to Shaw's high, wide backlift as the reason for his problem with the incoming ball, but this backlift had been part of his technique all through his career, even when he was scoring heavily. The problem, he realised when he worked with India coach Ravi Shastri and batting coach Vikram Rathour, lay elsewhere.

"Ravi sir and Vikram sir made me realise where I was going wrong," Shaw said. "I had to find a solution. Just go back to the nets and fix it. There were small mistakes that I was making. Those two innings made me look bad. My backlift was the same but my bat was coming down slightly away from my body. There was an issue with the initial movement. I was in a fixed position. I needed to keep my bat closer to my body, which I wasn't doing."

 

When he returned to India, Sachin Tendulkar identified the same issue with his game. Shaw reckons that the issue may have crept in because he went straight from the IPL in the UAE to the Test series in Australia.

"My mind was messed up," Shaw said. "My bat was coming down from the gully area, but that's how I have scored runs all my life," he said. "I met Sachin sir after I came back. He said don't make too many changes and to just play as close to the body as I could. I was late on the ball. So during the entire Australia tour, I worked on that part. Maybe it was because I had gone to Australia after playing in Dubai (IPL)."

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/vijay-hazare-trophy-prithvi-shaw-reveals-he-broke-down-after-being-dropped-in-australia-1254574

[Serpico]

But he sucked in ipl too

[SK_IH]

From personal experience, a jolt or failure early on is biggest blessing in disguise. Something that can make you mentally tougher & more determined.

Good to see him work on identified weaknesses but he should remain patient & pile on the runs in the IPL as well. Competition is immense, need to bulldoze your way in through mountain of runs. He is on the right path as of now.

[neel roy]

6 minutes ago, SK_IH said:

From personal experience, a jolt or failure early on is biggest blessing in disguise. Something that can make you mentally tougher & more determined.

Good to see him work on identified weaknesses but he should remain patient & pile on the runs in the IPL as well. Competition is immense, need to bulldoze your way in through mountain of runs. He is on the right path as of now.

Yes agree. I guess from Indian cricket history Ganguly played his best after being dropped, same was for VVS Laxman. In recent years Rohit himeself admitted that the wc2011 snub was a big motivating factor.. one advice i would give to Shaw is go and play county cricket.. even second division will do .. the impact it has on defence and the conditions which changes within hours . Sunshine to cloudy and the pitches makes you a good batsman as you cannot .. repeat cannot hit through the line and you have to wait for the ball to swing before reacting .. thats his biggest problem— trigger movement and early reaction to hit through the line.. if he can curb it India will have found a genuine batsman..

Edited March 12, 2021 by neel roy

[beetle]

Good he realised the importance of hardwork and not just banking on talent. 

Hope things work out overall for him . 

[figo6762]

Sure Sachin helped him ....  dropped batsman from the team should  get the sachin help me tag to get back into the squad ..... kL needs to do the same .. as dravid doesn’t pull stunts like this ... 

 

he should stop talking to the press and start scoring bucket loads of runs , so when Australia come to India he is ready ... would love to see him and mayank back in grove and Gill take pujara’s spot ... we all know  kohli and rahane aren’t going anywhere .., 

[BacktoCricaddict]

So, in the Cricinfo article, Shaw credits mainly SRT (and to some extent RJS and Rathour) for his turnaround.  Other articles are saying that it is mainly due to Pravin Amre and fitness coach R. Sivagnanam, both affiliated with Delhi Capitals.  But, Shaw says nothing about them in the Cricinfo article. 

 

Asa kaa?    

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https://scroll.in/field/989273/how-prithvi-shaw-bounced-back-from-australia-tour-to-a-spectacular-run-at-vijay-hazare-trophy

 

Amre decided to show Shaw the mirror. The former Mumbai Ranji Trophy coach has been around long enough to know that talent is nothing minus discipline and dedication. He had seen the career graphs of Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar. As Shaw sat in front of him, Amre knew that the youngster needed help, both technically and otherwise.

 

“Shaw was emotionally lost and also needed help with his game. The first thing that this meeting did was give him surety that the Delhi Capitals management had faith in him and wanted him to succeed,” Amre told Scroll.in.

 

“However, I made it clear that on current form and shape it will be difficult for him to be successful at any level of cricket. Once I got a commitment from him that he was ready to listen to me and adjust according to my suggestions, we got down to work. I told him that Vijay Hazare Trophy [India’s domestic 50-over competition] was his last chance to get his place back in the DC playing XI and also keep his stock high considering there will be a mega auction ahead of next season’s IPL.”

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[vvvslaxman]

All players are going to have some weakness. How you overcome is the key. Gill has the same issue that Tendulkar had in the 90s. Incoming balls. Even Dravid towards the end of the career was bowled a lot of times with incoming ball. 

[prudent_kreeda]

For the upcoming IPL , Shaw will be tested with Shortish rising deliveries around & above rib cage on  body with odd full length in duckers thrown in. 

He needs to find a way not to attack every such delivery and should  try to get singles and not get out to such deliveries in the first 2-3 overs or develop a shot with less risk. May be move a bit into offside and play or play ramp over keeper as he is very short .

I do not think they will even bowl such deliveries around off stump or little further from off stump  as he is good at slamming over point .

That he needs to practice and perfect before IPL.