Prithvi Shaw slammed 49 off just 26 balls to give Mumbai a strong foundation in their chase.© X (Twitter)
Amid debate over his declining fitness standards, star batter Prithvi Shaw stormed back to form with a quickfire knock to help Mumbai beat Vidarbha in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarterfinals on Wednesday. Shaw, who has come under fierce criticism over his fitness of late, slammed 49 off just 26 balls to give Mumbai a strong foundation during their 222-run chase. He smacked five 4s and four 6s, striking at 188.46 as Mumbai achieved the target with four balls to spare. This comes after Shaw went unsold during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Mega Auction last month.
Shaw’s knock comes as a big relief for the opening batter after he failed to attract any bidders at the IPL auction.
Recently, former India cricketer Pravin Amre criticised Shaw for not putting hard yards in the gym and nets. Amre, who worked with Shaw at Delhi Capitals, also labelled the batter “his own enemy”, saying that no one can help him if he doesn’t help himself.
“What we want, to be honest, is that he loses 10 kgs and becomes match fit. What is stopping him is his fitness. Nobody has a doubt about his cricketing skill. He is God-gifted but the problem is, he is his own enemy. Now, I don’t think anybody can motivate him. Everybody tried and I think he has to motivate himself now. Nobody else can help him. If you are going through a tough time, go and hit the nets. He has to hit the gym and the nets both,” Amre told The Indian Express.
Amre also pointed out the technical flaws in Shaw’s game, explaining how his body movement and stroke play have been affected due to him being overweight.
“But in his case that time has been long and that is what we are worried about. He should not go in a reverse direction now from here. He is now an adult, to be honest, he has to help himself right now. He has good hand-eye coordination. But for that timing, he needs to have proper footwork. And because of that body weight, he is late on the ball. He is not able to transfer the weight, his feet are not moving. He is not in the right position. And that is why we want him to work on his fitness,” he further explained.
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