Prithvi Shaw posted a cryptic message on his Instagram stories even as he faces criticism for poor returns with the bat in India’s first Test against Australia in Adelaide. Shaw returned scores of 0 and 4 in India’s eight-wicket defeat, which also featured the team’s lowest Test score, and dropped a sitter off Marnus Labuschagne in Australia’s first innings. “If sometimes people demotivates you for something you try to do, that means you can do that but they can’t,” read the message that Shaw posted on social media.
Prithvi Shaw’s post in Instagram stories
Shaw faced the ire of cricket fans as India capitulated to 36/9 in Adelaide and conceded a 1-0 lead to the hosts in the four-match rubber.
His technique was criticised by experts, too, to the extent that former Australia captain Ricky Ponting predicted Shaw’s dismissal on air moments before Mitchell Starc bowled the India opener through the gate for a duck in the first innings.
In the second essay, too, Shaw was bowled by Pat Cummins with a delivery that sneaked in the gap between bat and pad.
The 21-year-old right-hander from Mumbai failed to get a big hit in the warm-up matches either.
He returned 0, 19, 40 and 3 in the two warm-up games, the second of which was a day-night contest as a precursor to the day-night Test in Adelaide.
Promoted
Despite his poor form, Shaw was preferred over fellow opening batsman Shubman Gill, who notched up a half-century in the second warm-up game.
However, Gill is likely to replace Shaw in the second Test starting December 26 in Melbourne even as India seek to fill the gaps left behind by skipper Virat Kohli, who returned home on paternity leave, and Mohammed Shami, who reportedly sustained a fractured wrist and is unlikely to take further part in the series.