Prithvi Shaw is seemingly back on the right track. Once heralded as the next Sachin Tendulkar, Shaw endured a tumultuous 2024, which saw him go unsold in the IPL auction and dropped from Mumbai’s domestic cricket teams. However, after a switch to Maharashtra ahead of the 2025-26 season, Shaw appears to be rejuvenated. Playing in the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament, Shaw has already cracked a terrific century and a fifty. According to Maharashtra’s chief selector Akshay Darekar, Shaw is doing everything necessary to make a comeback.
“Prithvi is on the right track. There was never an issue with his batting. He is focused and keen to make a statement with his bat. He is completely committed to his fitness too and has been doing his training drills religiously,” Darekar said in an interview with Mid-day.
Shaw has endured mixed form during the Buchi Babu Tournament. While there have been a couple of low scores, Shaw slammed 111 runs against Chhattisgarh, displaying his class.
He then made a score of 66 against the TNCA President XI, showing that his batting talent is still very much there.
In 2024, Shaw went through numerous downs. Despite being a part of Mumbai’s triumphant Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy team, Shaw was criticised by team captain Shreyas Iyer over his discipline.
“He needs to get his work ethics right. And if he does that, sky’s the limit for him. 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,” Iyer had said about Shaw.
While Maharashtra are a weaker team than Mumbai, Darekar stated that Shaw’s aim is to help them reach the Ranji Trophy knockout stage.
“We know he always likes to play aggressively and dominate the opposition. And he batted the same way in his first two matches for Maharashtra at the Buchi Babu Tournament. His class was evident in both those knocks. He is hungry to score big runs. The target is to help Maharashtra reach the Ranji knockouts through his strong performances,” Darekar added.
Despite slamming a century on Test debut against West Indies in 2018, Shaw has only managed to play five Tests, six ODIs and one T20I for India.
His last appearance for the national team came in July 2021.
Once retained by Delhi Capitals for Rs 7.5 crore, Shaw went unsold at a base price of Rs 75 lakh in the IPL 2025 mega auction.