Amid a string of poor scores with the bat, Delhi Capitals youngster Prithvi Shaw was dropped from the playing XI when the Shreyas Iyer-led side locked horns with Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday. Shaw, struggling to stick in the middle, had registered two ducks in his last five outings.
DC head coach Ricky Ponting decided to give 20-year-old Shaw a break by keeping him out from the encounter against KKR, with Ajinkya Rahane coming into the playing XI. The move, however, didn't work out for DC as Rahane departed on a golden duck. To plunge more misery on Iyer's men, they lost the encounter by 59 runs after succumbing to spinner Varun Chakravarthy's five-wicket haul.
Reacting to Shaw's dry patch, former India opener Virender Sehwag feels it was good from Ponting to provide the youngster with a much-needed break. Sehwag recalled an incident from his own career when he was struggling to amass runs on the board. Despite needing a break, the explosive opener wasn't ousted from the playing XI. He instead was made the captain of the national side.
“Ricky Ponting will continue to back Prithvi Shaw, but he has been in poor form in the past few games and hence he has been given a break because of the form,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
“Sometimes, a batsman develops a mindset that no matter what I am doing it is not working in my favour. So, at the time, you either take a break yourself, or someone gives you a break, it works best for everyone,” he added.
“I share my own story when back in 2006, I was not able to score any runs. But still, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly kept me in the playing XI. I kept telling them that I am not being able to perform, I am not being able to score runs.
“So, give me a break. Instead of giving me a break, in one series, I was made the captain,” Sehwag recalled.
Struggling to find an effective opening solution, it will be interesting to see how DC's top-order fares in the next game. They're next slated to face David Warner-led SunRisers Hyderabad on Tuesday at Dubai International Stadium.
