Prithvi Shaw is his own enemy: MCA dismisses batter's outburst over Vijay Hazare snub

MCA has brushed aside Prithvi Shaw's emotional outburst. (Photo: PTI)

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has dismissed Prithvi Shaw's emotional response to his exclusion from the Vijay Hazare Trophy squad, stating that the talented but volatile batter has repeatedly violated disciplinary norms and is "his own worst enemy."

A senior MCA official, speaking to PTI, revealed that the team was occasionally "forced to hide" Shaw on the field due to concerns about his fitness, discipline, and attitude.

Also Read - Dejected Prithvi Shaw laments 'what more do I have to see?' after snub from Mumbai's Vijay Hazare squad

Shaw recently voiced his frustration over being left out of the 16-member squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in a viral social media post, following his participation in the team's victorious Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign.

"In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, we were playing with 10 fielders as we were forced to hide Prithvi Shaw. The ball would pass near him and he would barely be able to get to it," the official said on conditions of anonymity.

"Even while batting, we could see he was troubled reaching to the ball. His fitness, discipline and attitude are poor and it is pretty simple, there cannot be different rules for different players," he claimed.

"Even the seniors in the team have started complaining about his attitude now," he added.

During the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Shaw missed training sessions regularly after showing up at the team hotel at "six in the morning" being out for most of the night.

The youngster has defended himself by sayin Shaw, who has attracted a lot of attention for his off-field activities and not doing his talent justice by focussing on his game, would not get any favour from such social media posts, the official said.

"You would be wrong to think such posts on social media would have any impact on the Mumbai selectors and the MCA," he added.

Shaw's teammate and Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer too had issued a stern statement on the night Mumbai defeated Madhya Pradesh in the final to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

"He needs to get his work ethics right. And if he does that, (the) sky's the limit for him," Iyer told reporters in Bengaluru.

"We can't babysit anyone, right? He has played so much of cricket. Everyone has given him inputs. At the end of the day, it's his job to figure out things for himself. And he has also done it in the past. It's not that he hasn't," he added.

Shaw was earlier left out of Mumbai's Ranji Trophy squad for similar reasons in October after which he was given a specific fitness program to work on at the MCA Academy.

"He is not following that as well properly," the official said.

Prithvi Shaw burst onto the cricketing scene with immense promise, making his Test debut in 2018 as an 18-year-old during a home series against the West Indies.

He scored his maiden Test century in that memorable debut match, but his red-ball career has stagnated since then. Shaw has featured in only four more Tests, the last being against Australia four years ago.

His performances in limited-overs cricket have also fallen short of expectations. Shaw has not represented India in ODIs or T20 Internationals since 2021, a disappointing record for a player once hailed as the future of Indian cricket.

Concerns over his behavior and attitude, both on and off the field, have been voiced by several former players. A recent setback came when Shaw went unsold in the IPL auction, even with a modest base price of Rs 75 lakh.

"I'll tell you one thing. No one is Shaw's enemy. He is his own enemy," the MCA official stated, voicing the frustration that the cricket fraternity in India has felt over him not living up to the early promise.