The recently held IPL mega auction saw 10 franchises signing a total of 182 players by spending Rs 639.15 Crore over two days.
Rishabh Pant (Rs 27 Crore to LSG), Shreyas Iyer (Rs 26.75 Crore to PBKS) and Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 Crore to KKR) were the three most expensive buys, while the 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi secured a deal with the Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.10 Crore.
Amidst all this, Prithvi Shaw going unsold at the grand auction became the talk of the town. Shaw was part of the Delhi franchise since returning as the U-19 World Cup winning captain in 2018. The Mumbai batter was retained by DC for Rs 7.5 Crore ahead of the 2022 auction but he failed to justify the faith in the past few seasons.
Reacting to his auction snub, Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal has said that Prithvi Shaw is misunderstood in many ways but he needed such a 'jolt' to get up from his slumber.
Shaw amassed just 198 runs in the 2024 season from 8 matches and was eventually released by DC ahead of the auction. During the event in Jeddah, Shaw failed to attract any franchise and wasn't brought back for the accelerated auction process.
Speaking to Sports Today, Jindal said Shaw needs to work hard, regain his love for the game and get disciplined. He also hoped that the Mumbai batter can return back to his best form.
"Prithvi is a great kid. He is misunderstood in many ways. And I think all of us growing up need a jolt and need to be shaken up from our slumber. There are times when I even needed that jolt. All your life you grow up hearing that you are the special one, you're the most talented, you're the only other batter in the world other than Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli to have a MRF bat. That tells you a lot about what everyone thought about him," Jindal stated.
"People calling you Lara, somebody calling you Sachin, someone else calling you the next big thing. You grow up in that environment, and everyone from Mumbai cricket talking big about you. I think this is that one jolt Prithvi needed. Till now, he was on a fat IPL contract, he was playing for Mumbai across all formats, and was someone starting for DC at least. I think he needs to work hard. He needs to get back to loving the game of cricket. He needs to get back to the nets, get his fitness. He needs to get back and understand where he went wrong and get disciplined," he added.
"Talent is there for everyone to see. I love the boy and I hope he gets back to the basics and hopes he comes back and be the Prithvi Shaw we all know he can be," he further remarked.
Prithvi Shaw represented Delhi Capitals in 79 IPL matches, scoring 1892 runs at an average of 23.95 and a strike rate of 147.47, including 14 half-centuries.
