Prithvi Shaw made headlines as he went unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. Shaw, who had been released by Delhi Capitals (DC), did not fetch a single bid at his base price of INR 75 lakh. In recent months, Shaw was also dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy squad. Speaking on the 25-year-old’s downfall, former DC talent scout and assistant coach Pravin Amre speculated that earning close to ‘Rs 30-40 crore’ at such a young age may have put Shaw off-track with regards to his career. Amre, who played a big role in bringing Shaw to DC, also revealed that he had given Vinod Kambli’s example to Shaw, but even that did not work.
“Three years back, I gave him Vinod Kambli’s example. I’ve seen Kambli’s downfall from close quarters. It’s not easy to teach certain things to this generation,” Amre stated, in an interview with The Times of India.
Vinod Kambli came through at the same time as legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, unlike Tendulkar, Kambli’s career derailed at a young age, as he played his last Test match at the age of 23.
“Thanks to Delhi Capitals, he (Shaw) must’ve earned Rs 30-40 crore by the time he was 23. Will even an IIM graduate get that type of money? When you earn so much at such a young age, you tend to lose focus. It is important that you know how to manage money, have good friends and prioritise cricket,” Amre said further.
Shaw was retained by Delhi Capitals for Rs 7.5 crore in the IPL 2022 retentions.
“It was indiscipline which hampered Prithvi’s career. The hunger to come back and do well was missing,” Amre said.
“It’s so disappointing to see that a talent like him is going in reverse direction. Someone told me that before he left for Mumbai for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, Prithvi cracked a superb century in a practice match at the Cricket Club of India Even today, he can hit a 30-ball fifty in the IPL. Maybe he couldn’t handle the glamour and money, the side-effects of the IPL. His example can be a case study in Indian cricket. What’s happening to him shouldn’t happen to other cricketers. Talent alone can’t take you to the top. The three Ds – discipline, determination and dedication – are important.”
Shaw has received guidance from several massive names in the cricket fraternity, having worked with the likes of Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly at DC, Rahul Dravid during his U19 days and has even reportedly received advice from Sachin Tendulkar. But it has been to no avail.
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