This cricketer, once compared to Sachin, Lara, went unsold in IPL auctions; franchise owner says, ‘Needed this jolt…’

Mumbai batter Prithvi Shaw, who was at one point referred to as the next big thing in Indian cricket, could not find takers at the IPL mega auction in Jeddah. The 2018 U-19 World Cup-winning captain became an overnight sensation when he scored a century on his Test debut six seasons ago.

Former cricketer and commentator Ravi Shastri once compared him to legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag, but his career later declined mostly due to off-field controversies.

Last Monday, twice his name came up at the IPL auction and despite a base price of ₹75 lakh, not one paddle went up for him. There was Sourav Ganguly at one table and Rahul Dravid at another. The wise men at the table also included Ashish Nehra, Parthiv Patel, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori.

Prithvi needed this jolt

In an interview with India Today, Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal was candid in his remarks, stating that Shaw needed this “jolt”. Despite being compared to the greatest cricketing legends, he fell short of meeting expectations.

“Prithvi is a great kid but is misunderstood in many ways. I think, once in a while, we all need a jolt and need to be shaken up from our slump. But when all your life you grow up hearing that you are the special open, the most talented, and is the only batsman in the world other than Sachin and Virat Kohli to own an MRF bat, that tells you a lot,” he said.

“Somebody called him Lara, somebody called him Sachin, or the next big thing...so grew up in that environment. Everyone from Mumbai cricket was talking about him. Mumbai has given us Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, and now they were talking about him. So, this is that one jolt Prithvi needed. Till now he was on a fat IPL contract and playing across formats for Mumbai and was starting for Delhi.”