The most notable player to go unsold at the IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah was India batter Prithvi Shaw. After winning the U-19 World Cup for India as the captain, Shaw was acquired by Delhi Capitals, where he grew into an integral player. But over the years, failed to build a reputation as a match winner, amid a string of faltering seasons, resulting in the franchise releasing him last October.

Shaw lowered his base price from INR 2 crore to 75 lakh at the auction, but found no bidders. He was also not recalled during the accelerated round of the auction on Monday.

Speaking to Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube show, Shaw's former coach, Jawala Singh, who worked with the India batter for three years before his U-19 World Cup campaign revealed that he never saw the Mumbai opener since that ICC tournament as he never came back.

“Prithvi came to me in 2015 and was with me for three years. And when he came, he had not played Mumbai Under-16 matches, and his father asked me to guide him. Then in next year, he played the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy and scored big in selection matches. And I worked very hard on him. He was talented from the beginning; I will not take full credit because many coaches have worked for him, but at that time it was only me. I was excited when he played in the Under-19 World Cup because he was my first student to do so. Before leaving for the Under-19 World Cup, he had celebrated his birthday with me. But after that, I have not seen him; that was 2017, we are in 2024; I have not seen him; he has not come to me," he recalled.

Prithvi Shaw sent a 'Sachin Tendulkar, Yashasvi Jaiswal' reminder

Jawala could not pin point the exact reason behind the downfall in Shaw's career, from being considered as the next big superstar of Indian cricket to an IPL snub, but speculated that lack of work ethic did contribute to him losing his reputation both on and off the field. He then sent him a sharp reminder of Sachin Tendulkar and another of his famous student Yashasvi Jaiswal.

“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 that journey, and that consistency comes from your lifestyle, your work ethic, and discipline, so what I feel is that consistency is not with him. 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, and worked on his fitness and mental toughness. So, I feel a player goes off track only if he gets away from the process. You will not fall back if your process and work ethic are fine, so I feel players fail because of that. As far as Yashasvi is concerned, his work ethic is superb; he really works hard, and he knows what to do. That is the main difference," he added.

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