Having made an impression straightaway with a century on Test debut for India six years ago, Prithvi Shaw's fortunes have swung the entire arc. Once dubbed as the next Sachin Tendulkar, Shaw finds himself at a point of no return. Shaw does not have an IPL franchise for the first time in eight years. Released by Delhi Capitals ahead of the IPL retentions, Shaw was ignored by all 10 franchises not once, but twice during the IPL mega-auction 2025, which spread across two days. He is just 25 years old, and despite plenty of time ahead, Shaw seems to have lost himself in the wilderness.

And it's not as if Shaw hasn't received suggestions along the way. When his first big scandal broke out, the doping scam in early 2020, Shaw was spoken to by none other than Sachin Tendulkar. His advice, kept a secret all this while, was confined to three words 'Discipline over talent'. There is no death of talented cricketers in India, but it's the discipline and self-controllables which take the player forward. Few know it better than Tendulkar, who's seen his friend Vinod Kambli go down that path. The close circles in Mumbai always felt that Kambli was more talented than Tendulkar. Look how and where the two ended up.

Shaw runs the risk of walking down the same road. He was recently dropped from Mumbai's Ranji Trophy Playing XI based on poor fitness and a fat percentage in his body, but the real story is his disciplinary issues. Despite all the advice that he has received, Shaw has decided to ignore them all. In fact, a former BCCI selector has come on record and said that Shaw has turned a blind eye to everything that was said to him for his own benefit.

"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.

Prithvi Shaw's downward spiral

A couple of days ago, Shaw appeared on a YouTube show. You could feel for him when he said he knows the kind of memes which circulate about him. He often finds them amusing but, like any individual, feels bad, too. This self-realisation could be the best thing to happen to Shaw. With everything going against him, now is the chance for Shaw to go back to the drawing board, start from scratch, leave all that's happened before in the past.

Shaw last played for India more than three years ago – July of 2021. Ever since, he has been added into the national squad just once – in the T20I squad for the home series against New Zealand in early 2022 before skipping to the bottom of the pile. He has made some noise in the domestic circuit – scoring 379 against Assam in the Ranji Trophy and producing a couple of stunning knocks for Northamptonshire in the One-Day Cup last year, scoring a century and a double hundred. But just when he seemed to be making it back on track, an injury cut short his campaign and put him on the sidelines.

Shaw's last good knock came last month, when he scored 76 in the second innings for Mumbai in the Irani Cup against Rest of India. Shaw is currently struggling in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with things looking downhill for the once-Indian batting prodigy. He and he alone has the power to come out of this rut strong.

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