Prithvi Shaw has not been a part of IPL 2025 auction and has been in the news ever since. He has such a potential and yet was not able to attract any franchise with a base price of Rs 75 lakh; Shaw remained in the news. His controversies since then continued. For someone who broke domestic cricket records with ease during early stages of his career, Shaw’s journey has quickly turned out to be one full of contradiction. He began his international career by scoring a century in his first year (2018) but has played just five Tests in two years. While he features in six ODIs and a single T20I, Shaw’s career never really blossomed. For two of the last three years, injury and off-form were sufficient reasons to keep him out of the national team.
Shaw has also been scolded for all his activities off the field. But what does Raju Pathak, the coach who has seen Shaw grow from close distance, have to say about that? It is unfair, people feel, as they expect a 25-year-old Shaw to act like a 40-year-old.
“They were not well off. His father was trying some business but it was not working out. They had seen hard times and growing up Shaw had to depend on help from others. It wasn’t easy. And he didn’t have a mother (she passed away early) who could guide him the way only a mother can,” Raju Pathak, coach of Rizvi Springfield School during Shaw’s schooling days, told The Indian Express.
“He has been successful so early. The boy who once saw daily struggle and shortage of money at home suddenly has a decent bank balance. So when money keeps coming in, he will enjoy it and this happens with all players who are deprived of things. They want to live their life after all this is what they wanted. Fame, money. There have been players in the past who have crossed similar paths.
The problem is we want a 25-year-old Shaw to behave like a 40-year-old mature man.”
“It is hoping that he is going to lose 10 kgs, and he will be match fit. The only thing that is stopping him is fitness, and nobody has any doubt about how well he plays cricket. He has been God-gifted, but the problem is that he is his own enemy; he is the only person who is going to be able to motivate himself now. Everyone has tried and failed; now he has to motivate himself; nobody else can do that for him. If you are having a bad time, just go and hit the nets. He’s got to hit the gym and the nets both,” amre says.
