Prithvi Shaw's tryst with 'misconduct' and indiscipline continues in the ongoing Ranji Trophy

Sports don’t make the character, in fact, it reveals it to the hilt. We have, so often, in the past seen outrageously precocious talents going into the wilderness because they didn’t have the work ethics to match their talent. 

Talent can open the first door for you, it can open second and maybe the third but it will never open the final door. To open that final door of success, you need incredible work ethic, temperament, patience and the relentless drive of getting better with every passing day.

The contrasting fortunes of two equally talented cricketers in Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli testifies the aforementioned statement to the hilt. Prithvi Shaw, who became the latest sensation to have come out of Mumbai, after he became the youngest batsman to score a Duleep Trophy hundred and the latest U-19 World Cup-winning captain for India in 2018, has been in the news of for all the wrong reasons in the past 12 months and is increasingly flirting to go down the Kambli way.

Fourteen months after he became the youngest Indian to score a Test hundred on debut [vs West Indies], Shaw hasn’t played a Test match for the country since he injured his ankle in a practice game ahead of the 2018-19 Test series against Australia. Since then, there have been a lot of reports citing his “lack of discipline” and off-field style of living.

“Whose loss is it? How long will it take for him to understand that he was brought into the Test team ahead of Mayank Agarwal, who was the most prolific and consistent run-getter in the domestic circuit at that time. If Prithvi is not making the opportunity count, he can only blame himself. It’s his lifestyle causing all the mess,” a source in the know of things was quoted as saying to The Times of India.

Prithvi Shaw under the scanner for alleged ‘misconduct’ in the Ranji Trophy

Shaw scored a whirlwind hundred in Mumbai’s only win in the ongoing Ranji Trophy against Baroda, but there too the team-manager wasn’t happy with his conduct and the ‘lack of discipline’ courtesy his off-field shenanigans.

“I wouldn’t like to cite particular instances though there’s a list of misconducts that have been reported. The last one was in Baroda. The Mumbai team manager was very angry and reported an incident. I wouldn’t like to get into details here but something’s very wrong. Someone needs to have a very clear and serious chat with him,” add those tracking developments.

Shaw’s behaviour has been under scrutiny for some time now. During the 2018-19 tour of Australia, there were reports that the team-management was not happy with the “lack of effort” the youngster was putting during his recovery process, something that eventually forced them to send him back to India.

In Shaw’s absence, Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal have emerged as the opening pair and it looks like a long road to come back for the teenager.

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