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Having made 134 in his very first Test innings at age 18 (against West Indies in 2018), Shaw has played just five Test matches and none since 2020, despite averaging 42.37.

Though he only just turned 25, his career is at the crossroads after also falling out of favour in franchise cricket. He was listed at a measly $136,000 base price in the IPL auction and still had no takers. He was also recently dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team, reportedly for being overweight and failing to take practice seriously.

“There are so many players who don’t get so many opportunities, but he got a lot. Now the fact that no one bought him at the auction is shameful. Even for INR 75 lakh he found no bidders. He now has to go back to the drawing board, score runs in domestic cricket and then get picked. Sarfaraz Khan is the biggest example,” former India player Mohammed Kaif, who also worked with Shaw at Delhi, said on Jio Cinema, per the Hindustan Times.

“Delhi backed Prithvi Shaw a lot because the expectation was that he is a powerplay specialist and he can hit six boundaries in one over. Well, he did do it once against Shivam Mavi. So there was potential, and so we backed him a lot because we thought if he could score big, we would definitely win.

“In fact, there were so many times we sat in the meeting and Ponting and me discussed whether we should pick him or not. So a lot of times we would drop him from the team by night because we felt he was out of form following a flop show, but in the morning, just before toss, we would pick him again, thinking that maybe he could score today. But then Delhi moved on and Shaw is to blame for this.”

Another report in the Hindustan Times noted that: “Prithvi Shaw has not utilised an ounce of advice shared by Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting, says a former BCCI selector.

“‘Prithvi has been in Delhi Capitals. In DC itself, he had a chance to interact with Rahul Dravid, who was also his U-19 India coach, Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly. It’s an open secret in Mumbai cricket that Tendulkar has also spoken to him. Are these legends fools? Do you see any change in him? Even if there is, it is not evident,’ the selector told PTI.”

A former coach of Shaw – Jwala Singh, who also coached new superstar Yashasvi Jaiswal – said that the batter did not have the work ethic or self-discipline of a top player.

“I think the process, which we call work ethic, so I feel if you are talented, talent is just a seed; to make it a tree, consistency is very important in the journey and that consistency comes from your lifestyle, your work ethic and discipline, so what I feel is that consistency is not with him,” Singh said on a podcast, per The Times of India.

“One can make a great start, which he did, but to stay at the top in international cricket, one has to improve his game all the time. Even Sachin Tendulkar refined his game consistently, fine-tuned his game, worked on his fitness and mental toughness. So I feel a player goes off track only if he gets away from that process. You will not fall back if your process and work ethic is fine, so I feel payers fail because of that. As far as Yashasvi is concerned, his work ethic is superb, he really works hard and he knows what tot do. That is the main difference.”

Wisden delved into Shaw’s chequered history.

“In the last few years, Shaw has struggled with his fitness too. In 2020, he suffered a shoulder injury that forced him to miss part of the New Zealand tour. He failed a yo-yo test ahead of the 2022 IPL, failing to meet the required score of 16.5 (he scored less than 15). By the following year, there was a marked weight gain too, for which he was attacked on social media. In an interview with Wisden in 2022, he revealed the immense public scrutiny had severely affected his mental health.

“A knee injury during the County Championship last year saw him miss the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s domestic T20 competition. This year, he was dropped from the Mumbai Ranji squad due to fitness and general conduct, with an MCA official saying he appeared “a little overweight”. Close to the auction, this couldn’t have been good news for Shaw. Given his wavering fitness standards, it seems like franchises wouldn’t want to trust him with a full IPL season.

“Shaw has never been far from controversy. From being suspended for using a banned substance to alleged misconduct in the dressing room, and even faking an injury – Shaw has been accused of it. Earlier this year, he was dropped from the Mumbai squad for fitness and general conduct.”

Shaw has paid the price for his failings, in the form of online abuse. The Indian Express noted that an old video of Shaw, discussing trolling, had resurfaced after his auction snub.

“If people make memes on me, I see them as well. I sometimes get hurt,” Shaw said in the video.