Prithvi Shaw: The Rise and Fall of Indian Cricket’s Wonder Boy

Last month, Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in Indian Premier League (IPL) history as he was signed by Lucknow Supergiants for 27 crore rupees (£2.54m) in a mega auction in Saudi Arabia.

But it was the news that Prithvi Shaw – Pant’s Delhi Capitals teammate – went unsold that got the most attention.

Bidders at the auction included Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting, who were closely associated with Shaw during their years with the Capitals, and Rahul Dravid, who was the coach when India won the Under-19 World Cup under Shaw. had won In 2018.

Their lack of interest was telling. Shaw found no takers.

Ironically, just nine months ago, before the start of the 2024 IPL season, it was Pant whose career was in jeopardy.

A horrific car accident in December 2022 left him with multiple life-threatening injuries. But showing iron determination, great determination and self-discipline, Pant fought his way back from the end of his career.

Pant faced the challenges of IPL 2024 and made a swift return to international cricket with a brilliant performance. He was part of the T20 World Cup winning squad. Dominating the domestic season, he impressed in the domestic Duleep Trophy, paving the way for a sensational return to Test cricket. He lit up the field with a century against Bangladesh.

Shaw, meanwhile, has lurched from crisis to crisis, under pressure after a couple of poor IPL seasons.

His indifferent form in IPL 2024 saw him lose his place in the playing XI mid-season. He also lost his place in the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team due to low scores in the current domestic season. And the outright rejection in the IPL mega auction has brought his career to the brink of a premature end.

It has been a colossal mess for the 25-year-old, who was touted as the ‘next big thing’ in Indian cricket not long ago.

Shaw hit the headlines in November 2013 at the age of 14 when he scored 546 for Rizvi Springfield in the Harris Shield, a prestigious school cricket tournament. It was the world’s highest score in minor cricket at that time.

Sachin Tendulkar, India’s most famous cricketer, had retired just a week earlier, and Shaw drew immediate comparisons with the maestro.

Tendulkar’s meteoric rise after his world-record 664-run partnership with Vinod Kamble in a school game in 1987 had particularly impressed some Mumbai batsmen. Shaw was one of them.

A short and strong opening batsman, Shaw lacked the technical flair that Tendulkar possessed even as a teenager. But he had the gift of timing, and he took the attack to the bowlers with such aplomb that the selectors were instantly mesmerized.

He quickly rose to first-class cricket like Tendulkar, scoring centuries on debut in the domestic Ranji and Duleep Trophy, drawing comparisons between the two.

In late 2018, he got a Test call-up against the West Indies. Shaw scored 134 runs off just 154 balls, including rifle-shot drives, cuts and pulls. He was barely 19 years old. Only Tendulkar scored his maiden Test century at a younger age among Indians.

As a worthy successor to Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Shaw held the world at his feet. But he’s been on a slippery slope ever since.

Six years after his sensational debut, he played just four more Tests. Add six ODIs and a single T20, it still makes for a disappointing collection of international appearances for a batsman whose accuracy promised a long, illustrious career.

An unfortunate foot injury, which ruled him out of the 2020 tour of Australia, was the start of Shaw’s troubles. Later that year, he took the test Positive for a prohibited substance And was lucky to get away with a light sentence. His batting form continued to decline thereafter, rarely touching the heights to impress the selectors.

Meanwhile, Shaw’s stories became muddled. Wild parties And Quarrels began to spread. By the middle of IPL 2024, he was on notice, as it were. After the IPL 2025 mega auction, his career seems shrouded in uncertainty.

Injury, illness and poor form can derail even the best, but those close to Shaw have revealed that bad luck has only played a minor role in his dangerous decline.

Ricky Ponting, who worked with Shaw as Delhi Capitals coach, says: “There’s just so much. [advice] You can give and try only so many times. [to sort him out] ”

Former India batsman Parveen Amre, assistant coach with the Delhi Capitals, was more direct. “Prithvi’s inability to manage the fame and money of the IPL has been his failure. I have spoken to him many times, citing this as an example. Vinod Kamble Which ended his career due to lack of discipline,” Amre told a national daily.

The IPL has revolutionized the lives of young players, offering a platform for talent and livelihood. Yet, the challenges of early success, instant fame, and rapid wealth are still pressing. Rahul Dravid, drawing on his experience as the U-19 and India A coach, emphasizes the need for strong guidance at the junior level to keep the players on track. Shaw’s struggle illustrates the importance of his insight.

In the future, perhaps only time will tell.

At 25 years old, he still has years left. But Indian cricket is brimming with talent, and competition for places is fierce. From here the route is all uphill.

“Some of the greatest stories in sports are comeback stories. If Prithvi Shaw had decent people around him who cared about his long-term success, they would have sat him down, told him to get off social media and get super. So would train his full back side. It will put him on the right track where past success is too talented to pull it all off,” former England captain Kevin Pietersen posted on X.

The message for Shaw is clear. Salvation is in his own hands.

Follow on BBC News India. Instagram, youtube, Twitter And Facebook.