Once dubbed as the ‘next big thing’ in Indian cricket, Prithvi Shaw’s career has witnessed a dramatic fall the last few years. The man, who became the youngest Indian Test centurion on debut in 2018, isn’t even a regular for the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team now. After being released by the Delhi Capitals ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction, Shaw went unsold in the event despite keeping a base price of INR 75 lakh. While his attitude towards training and fitness have been considered among the top factors towards his downfall, many wonder why the talented opening batter has gone the route he has.
In an interview, Shaw’s former coach Jwala Singh, who has also guided India’s current opening sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal in the past, tried to shed light on the topic. During a chat on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast, Jwala explained that he hasn’t met Shaw since the latter won the U19 World Cup in in January 2018.
“Prithvi came to me in 2015 and was with me for three years. And when he came, he had not played Mumbai Under-16 matches, and his father asked me to guide him. Then in next year, he played the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy and scored big in selection matches. And I worked very hard on him. He was talented from the beginning; I will not take full credit because many coaches have worked for him, but at that time it was only me.
“I was excited when he played in the Under-19 World Cup because he was my first student to do so. Before leaving for the Under-19 World Cup, he had celebrated his birthday with me. But after that, I have not seen him; that was 2017, and we are in 2024; I have not seen him; he has not come to me,” he said.
When it comes to the biggest flaw in Shaw’s approach towards the game, Jwala feels the player lacks the ‘work ethic’ required to sustain in the top echelon of cricket. In comparison, Jwala asserted that Yashasvi Jaiswal has shown excellent work ethic, which is the reason behind his rapid rise in the game.
“I think the process, which we call work ethic, so I feel if you are talented, talent is just a seed; to make it a tree, consistency is very important in that journey, and that consistency comes from your lifestyle, your work ethic, and discipline, so what I feel is that consistency is not with him. One can make a great start, which he did, but to stay at the top in international cricket, one has to improve his game all the time.
“Even Sachin Tendulkar refined his game consistently, fine-tuned his game, and worked on his fitness and mental toughness. So, I feel a player goes off track only if he gets away from the process. You will not fall back if your process and work ethic are fine, so I feel players fail because of that. As far as Yashasvi is concerned, his work ethic is superb; he really works hard, and he knows what to do. That is the main difference,” he explained.
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