Prithvi Shaw, who returned to the Mumbai squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, has had his disciplinary and fitness points cut in the recent past and now the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has blurted out why the opening batter wasn't considered for the domestic 50-over tournament. "I'll tell you one thing. No one is Shaw's enemy. He is his own enemy," an MCA official told the news agency PTI on conditions of anonymity.
The official mentioned that Shaw is really on a downward slide as far as his fitness is concerned. "In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, we were playing with 10 fielders as we were forced to hide Prithvi Shaw. The ball would pass near him and he would barely be able to get to it," the official added.
"Even while batting, we could see he was troubled reaching to the ball. His fitness, discipline and attitude are poor and it is pretty simple, there cannot be different rules for different players," he claimed. The official said that the social media post might not have backfired but didn't think the post would have any effect on the MCA or the selectors.
After the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win, Mumbai skipper Shreyas Iyer also asserted that Shaw is a great talent but will have to work his way back to the side on his own.
"Even the seniors in the team have started complaining about his attitude now," he added. "He needs to get his work ethics right. And if he does that, (the) sky's the limit for him," Iyer had told reporters in Bengaluru."We can't babysit anyone, right? He has played so much of cricket. Everyone has given him inputs. At the end of the day, it's his job to figure out things for himself," he added.
Shaw, after being with the Delhi Capitals for seven seasons, went unsold at the IPL 2025 auction and didn't find takers despite having kept his base price at INR 75 Lakh, which was modest considering the moneys that floated around in those two days in Jeddah, especially since he is an international player.
Mumbai squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy: Shreyas Iyer (c), Ayush Mhatre, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Jay Bista, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Siddhesh Lad, Hardik Tamore, Prasad Pawar, Atharva Ankolekar, Tanush Kotian, Shardul Thakur, Royston Dias, Juned Khan, Harsh Tanna, Vinayak Bhoir
(With PTI inputs)
