Misunderstood Shaw hopes to change narrative

"I just want to be a step ahead or better myself as a good batter, as a good athlete, as a good person," Shaw says ruefully.

A seemingly innocuous statement from Prithvi Shaw on Saturday would be stretched out of context over the course of the next 24 hours.

He said: "I can't be how (Cheteshwar) Pujara sir bats or Pujara sir can’t bat like me."

What Shaw meant was that he couldn't adopt a defensive style of batting to ensure his name remains in the conversation for a return to the Indian side, it doesn't come naturally to him. Instead, it was made out to seem like Shaw was taking a dig at the critics.

In isolation, it could sound so, but Pujara and Shaw were sharing the dressing room for West Zone at Alur for their Duleep Trophy semifinals against Central Zone so it is natural for the youngster to use the senior in proximity for an analogy.

This most recent of events summarises Shaw's life poignantly, but the fact is that the Mumbaikar's jollygood attitude which borders on arrogance doesn't help him in the least.

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In fact, as he addresses a modest gathering of media men on the sidelines of the drawn encounter, he reeks of confidence and is fairly articulate, but he doesn't look the part of an Indian cricketer.

Shaw, though only 23 looks older, and this has nothing to do with his receding hairline. His problems - while disciplinary on the occasion, including a recent selfie brawl - mostly revolves around his fitness, and it's obvious that he's still struggling with it.

"I just want to be a step ahead or better myself as a good batter, as a good athlete, as a good person," he says ruefully.

Being out of the reckoning for a spot in the Indian side for over two years can have that affect on most people, let alone a youngster who has been in the spotlight since he was 14-years-old.

After kicking off his Test career with a century against the West Indies in 2018, Shaw's career has petered out, and has plateaued at five Tests with 339 runs at an average of 42.37. His six One-Day Internationals have yielded 189 runs at 31.50. He has a rather impressive strike rate in both the formats, and that's what he was alluding to when he brought up Pujara.

"I will continue to do what has brought me this far, I'll be the same you know," he says. "If I change something now, it won't work. One of the things that has worked for me is aggressive bating and I don't want to change that."

"Personally, I feel I don’t have to change my game, I just feel like I have to be a little smarter than I am now," he adds.

When asked about why he reckons he has been ignored for over a year (he last played for India against Sri Lanka in Colombo in July 2021). "I mean, this is what life is, you know, sometimes you do get chances, sometimes you don't. Some times things just don't go your way, and you have to accept it. All I know is that I have got to perform and ensure my fitness is right up there."

Shaw's decline saw the rise of Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and the likes being entertained for national duty. To make matters worse, Shaw endured a rather pedestrian Indian Premier League where he scored all of 106 runs from eight games at an abysmal 13.25.

"The thing with the IPL, for me, is that I kept on thinking about the first match of the season, and by the time I recovered from that, three four games were done. It all moves so fast," he says. "I was able to learn a lot from Sourav (Ganguly) sir, Ricky (Ponting) sir and Praveen (Tambe) sir, but this was my journey. I have to keep all that in mind and move forward."

Frankly, Shaw hasn't excelled in the shortest format and the numbers are obvious, but his red-ball credentials can't be ignored. He has 3730 runs from 43 first-class games for Mumbai at 50.40.

"Whichever game I play right now is important for me. It's important for me to bring out the best visuals of myself," he says after scoring 26 and 25 at Alur.

Sounds like yet another youngster who has made his mistakes and hopes to right the wrongs before everyone moves on.