Swashbuckling opener Prithvi Shaw is certainly one of the openers to watch out for during the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
Shaw’s international career has been nothing sort of a roller-coaster ride so far. After earning the Player-of-the-Series award in his debut Test series in 2018, the 21-year-old struggled with a number of injuries, served a doping suspension before losing his place in the national team due to poor performances.
However, Shaw worked on his game and roared to form in domestic cricket, piling up a staggering 827 runs in 8 innings while playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Mumbai and followed it up with 308 runs in the first half of IPL 2021 for Delhi Capitals.
Shaw may have travelled to Sri Lanka on the back of a stellar domestic showing, but former India coach Anshuman Gaekwad has advised the youngster to stay grounded.
“It’s going to be very important for him. He’s a brilliant player, who’s got a lot of runs. He started off with flying colours. We thought ‘here is a boy who had come here to stay’. But then he lost it. And why did he lose it? It could be confidence, it could be overconfidence, or arrogance. These are the reasons for which a player has a downfall. Being grounded is very, very important. I’ve seen the greatest of players - talk about Tendulkar, Dravid, Vishwanath. They were all grounded, and never put their collars up or said ‘I’m so and so’," Gaekwad said in an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times.
According to Gaekwad, sky is the limit for Shaw but he has some learnings to do and can improve his game by observing former greats.
“All these guys played for long - Laxman, Sourav, Azhar. All of them. Of course, being young these things happen but I’m sure he’s learnt his lesson. He has to grow up, and I’m sure he has. Some players probably improve from the experience of watching others, while some want to do it themselves. They want to experience it themselves, and then improve, so I hope he has learnt his lesson. Also, the thing with him is that he’s got time with him. He’s got tremendous potential and promise, so the sky’s the limit," he added.
The white-ball series between India and Sri Lanka will kick-off with the first ODI on July 18 in Colombo.
