Prithvi Shaw’s first outing in Maharashtra colours could hardly have been clearer: 111 runs, all pace and mischief, on a surface that spat and spun from the first hour. The pre-season Buchi Babu tournament is rarely headline material, yet the former India opener has made it the place to begin again – or, as he put it, to “start from scratch”.
Maharashtra, facing Chhattisgarh, were 71 without loss when the ball began to misbehave. Four wickets tumbled for 17, the scoreboard looked thin, but Shaw kept swinging between caution and counter-attack. He was eventually stumped dancing at leg-spinner Shubham Agrawal, a delivery that both turned and shot low – exactly the kind of ball that made others prod nervously. Every other Maharashtra batter together scraped 92; Shaw alone supplied the bulk.
“I don’t mind starting from scratch again because I’ve seen many ups and downs in my life,” he said afterwards. “And I’ve been up there, I’ve been down there, and I’ve come back up there. So, everything is possible, I feel. I’m kind of a very confident guy, confident in myself and my work ethics. I feel and I hope that this season will go really well for me as well as for my new team.”
That confidence has been missing publicly for a while. Last season Mumbai dropped him from the Ranji Trophy side, citing fitness and discipline. The IPL 2025 auction passed without a bid. By April he knew he needed a new base and new habits; the Maharashtra Cricket Association, looking for top-order steel, was equally keen.
“I mean, these two-three months [before the season] I had my trainer [working with me],” he explained. “He used to come personally to train me. And I’ve got a dietitian as well, and he gives me the meals [plan] and everything – like what a dietitian does. So, all this stuff in three-four months has really changed me physically and mentally as well. And, you know, it can be seen on the field.”
Plenty of running in the Chennai sun helped too. On day one he chased leather, pulling in three sharp catches; on day two he was 30 from 23 balls before his opening partner, Sachin Dhas, had even got off the mark. T20 muscle memory showed itself – 15 fours, one six – but the innings was not brain-out slogging. Shaw throttled back when the middle order disappeared, milked singles, then went again once set. A lofted straight six carried him from 91 to 97. The century arrived with a wristy nudge to mid-wicket, followed by a grin that looked part relief.
“I feel it [my approach] depended on the scoreboard,” Shaw said. “Obviously, we’re four wickets down for 17 [after an opening stand of 71]. We had a good opening partnership, but when wickets were falling, I had to be patient enough to take the game away from them, which I was trying my best [to do]. And the wicket [in Chennai] is obviously good for spinners.”
Spin, bounce, patches – the strip was anything but flat. “It [the pitch] is turning, bouncing and [there are] a lot of patches on the wicket. So, I tried my best to just be over there and try to [make] some scores. It feels really nice [to score a hundred], especially because I’m playing my first game for Maharashtra. It feels nice; it’s been long, and I haven’t played a three-day or …” He tailed off mid-sentence, almost surprised by how long it had been since he last settled in for red-ball cricket.
Maharashtra’s management were happy enough with the early evidence. One coach suggested privately that Shaw had turned up “leaner and lighter on his feet”, though nobody wants to jinx anything. With the Ranji season still weeks away, form can cool as quickly as it catches fire. Yet a messy, low-scoring match in late August has given both player and state a foothold.
Analysis tends to overstate fresh starts, but this one rings genuine. Shaw, still only 25, has international pedigree, domestic trophies, and now a point to prove. If the new diet and extra sprints endure longer than this Chennai visit, Maharashtra might have landed the bargain of the season. If they do not, well, cricket is full of second chances – and third, and fourth – provided the runs keep coming. For one day at least, they did.
