As soon as heralded as a prodigious expertise, Prithvi Shaw‘s career trajectory took a downward turn after an injury setback. Following an underwhelming Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2023, where he only amassed 106 runs across eight innings at an average of 13.25, Delhi Capitals (DC) made the decision to drop him this year in favour of promoting the promising domestic batter Ricky Bhui.
Delhi Capitals’ struggles within the IPL 2024
Shaw discovered himself sidelined for the preliminary two matches by the Delhi’s administration, who favoured Bhui, citing his stellar efficiency in home cricket. Nevertheless, Bhui’s bat didn’t ignite in each encounters, tallying mere scores of three and 0 towards the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) correspondingly. Consequently, Delhi endured losses in each fixtures, compounding their early struggles within the ongoing seventeenth version of the IPL.
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Criticism from Tom Moody relating to Prithvi Shaw’s omission
Chatting with the ESPNcricinfo, Tom Moody just lately voiced his frustration, brazenly questioning the decision-making of the Delhi, asserting that their decisions lacked logical coherence.
“It doesn’t make sense due to the fact that you’ve got an Indian international player (Prithvi Shaw) in the dugout. Yes, he hasn’t performed in the IPL like we had all hoped he would, but you can’t score runs from the dugout,” Moody mentioned.
Equally, Wasim Jaffer expressed his bewilderment, emphasizing the futility of retaining Shaw previous to the public sale solely to sideline him through the matches, thereby failing to make the most of his potential successfully inside the beginning XI.
“Now that they have held onto him and not let him go into the auction, I’m surprised they’re not playing him. He’s played for Mumbai for most of the season, so you’d imagine that he’s fit. I’m surprised. Punishing him and then losing the games is not the way to go forward,” Jaffer mentioned.
Sourav Ganguly’s protection of DC’s choice
Nonetheless, previous to the Rajasthan match, Delhi’s staff director Sourav Ganguly got here ahead to defend their choice, providing reasoning for dropping Shaw. He pressured their dedication to bolstering the damaging opening partnership of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh. Ganguly additional clarified that the selection of Bhui was impartial of Shaw’s omission, noting Bhui’s function as a middle-order batter in comparison with Shaw’s place as an opener, thus rationalizing Shaw’s absence from the staff.
“Prithvi Shaw is an opener. We decided to open with Marsh and Warner and Ricky Bhui is a middle-order batter. So they bat at different positions. So it’s actually not Bhui for sure. It’s a different opening combination, they opened for Australia and they have done well together. So we decided to do that,” Ganguly mentioned.
