Mohammad Kaif, former India cricketer and Delhi Capitals (DC) coach stated that teams have moved on from Prithvi Shaw and that the youngster should be embarrassed that not a single franchise bid for him despite a base price of INR 75 lakhs in recent IPL 2025 mega auction in Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25, 2024.
Mohammad Kaif, who worked with Prithvi Shaw in the Delhi Capitals franchise, said Mumbaikar should be embarrassed that he did not have any buyers in the mega-auction.
Kaif described his experience with Shaw during his coaching days at the Delhi Capitals, saying that Shaw is one player who cannot complain about not having a chance in the starting lineup.
Kaif stated that Prithvi Shaw was given frequent opportunities in the Delhi Capitals playing XI but was unable to establish himself in the team.
"Delhi has backed Prithvi Shaw a lot. DC had hoped that he iwould bea 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 managed to score, we would win. And we gave him a lot of chances," Mohammed Kaif said on Jio Cinema.
"There were meetings in the night where we would sit and ponder if Prithvi should play or not 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," Kaif narrated a team selection story.
Kaif continued by adding that it was time for Prithvi Shaw to start over, improve his fitness, and score a lot of runs.
The former player used the example of Sarfaraz Khan to demonstrate how the Mumbai batter was able to get into the Indian team after continuously accumulating runs at the domestic level.
"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," the former India cricketer concluded.
Prithvi Shaw, once the youngest Indian to score a Test ton on debut, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Be it his off-the-field issues, or his on-field performances. Shaw has struggled with his fitness after gaining significant weight after his knee injury.
Most recently, Shaw was dropped from MumbaiRanji'si side after they won the title in 2024. Reasons givenweres poor fitness and disciplinary issues. At 25, Shaw still has a lot of time to get things right and made a huge comeback.
