Prithvi Shaw broke down emotionally after being dropped from the Indian playing XI on the team's four match test tour of Australia in 2020-21. The Indian squad had flown to Australia right after IPL 2020 which was held in the UAE behind closed doors. Prithvi Shaw did not have a great campaign for Delhi Capitals and was dropped midway despite getting off to a good start in the competition with a couple of half centuries.
The young man was understandably heartbroken after being dropped from the Indian test team. After twin failures in the series opener, Shaw was not given a go in the remaining three matches of the series in which India registered a historic turnaround.
However, he continued to work hard behind the scenes with Indian head coach Ravi Shastri and batting coach VikramRathour to iron out the chinks.
The result was that when he flew back to India to lead Mumbai in the domestic 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, he was on the top of his game.
Shaw finished as the highest run scorer in the competition with 827 runs from 8 matches at an average of 165.40 and a strike rate of 138.29, scoring one century after another and led Mumbai to the Vijay Hazare trophy.
He carried on with his good form in Delhi Capitals' first match of the Indian Premier League as well, smashing 72 off just 38 balls at a strike rate of almost 190 against Chennai Super Kings to take the team to a 7 wicket victory.
"Feeling good. Everyone contributed and it was a good start (to the season). The wicket was good to bat on in the second innings and we executed quite well. From Australia when I was dropped I was working from there itself, coming back and across early, so I practised before going to Vijay Hazare with Pravin Amre and worked on that," Shaw said.
"I had a good plan before going into that tournament, so it is working quite well. I don't want to think about it (being dropped from the Indian side) because it was a disappointing moment for me but I have to move on and if something is wrong with my batting or technique, I have to improve and I am working hard on myself."
This is what an elated Prithvi Shaw said after Delhi Capitals' seven wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings in their first match of IPL 2021. Clearly, he had turned the corner.
