Prithvi Shaw is back in Delhi Capitals colours, a year after finding no takers at the 2025 IPL auction. The 26-year-old admits the time away was needed, both for cricketing clarity and for a quieter head.
“I enjoyed my life a lot. I went to a couple of destinations to refresh my mind a little,” he said during a Capitals media session this week. “Then I came back [and followed] the same routine: I practised, worked hard. Whether it was training or batting, what I used to do, I started doing three times. And I think it was a good break for me. I can’t say that I took a step back. I needed that break to make myself mentally strong.”
The opener’s numbers had dipped sharply – just 304 runs in 16 IPL innings across 2023 and 2024 – and Delhi benched him midway through the 2024 season. Things grew trickier on the domestic circuit. Mumbai left him out of their 2024-25 squads, with team-mate Shreyas Iyer suggesting Shaw had to “get his work ethics right”. Shaw moved to Maharashtra for the most recent Ranji campaign, where observers noted tidier footwork and a more disciplined approach outside off stump.
Looking back, he refuses to dwell on criticism. “I am a human being; I will make mistakes,” he said. “Obviously, whatever is written or spoken out there, they know only half of it. My family knows me… My friends know in and out about me. In social media or in the papers, whenever good or bad things used to come [about me], I was very young [to understand them], obviously. Everytime you see [such stuff], you come [back for more]. So I stopped seeing them.”
He adds that the separation from the noise has helped restore perspective. “Those things were used to keep me away from all these things [related to cricket]. I had belief in myself. Because I know where I have come from, how hard I have worked. Mistakes are made by humans… It’s okay, move ahead. All that is history, and it happened many years ago… I feel [now] is the time when mentally I get a lot of happiness to come to the ground.”
From Delhi’s viewpoint, there is a straightforward equation. Shaw must out-score two new faces – Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka and India rookie Abishek Porel – to regain the spot alongside KL Rahul at the top of the order. Assistant coach Pravin Amre, who has overseen Shaw since age-group cricket, believes a leaner frame and longer net sessions have “put him in a good space”. Still, Amre stresses that selection hinges on runs, not reputation.
Delhi have not reached the play-offs since 2021, and management are clear that early momentum is essential. They open away to Lucknow Super Giants on 1 April; a taxing venue for opening batters, with the ball often sticking in the surface. Should Shaw make the XI, he will walk out knowing the break he fought for now meets its sternest examination.
