Border Gavaskar Trophy: When Ricky Ponting's on-air analysis of Prithvi Shaw turned into match reality

NEW DELHI: Prithvi Shaw, touted as India’s next cricketing star, made an impressive debut in international Test cricket. With a century in his first match, Shaw showcased his immense potential. While his opening partner, KL Rahul, struggled with a scoreless outing, Shaw played a striking innings, hitting nineteen boundaries and accumulating 134 runs from 154 balls. His performance set high expectations for his future in Indian cricket.

Shaw's early career included a notable achievement: joining an elite group of Indian players who scored a century on their Test debut, alongside legends like Rohit Sharma, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Shikhar Dhawan.

Despite holding the record for the highest individual score in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Shaw faced a puzzling decline in form. His record stood unbeaten for a few years before it was surpassed by just three runs.

Even with early accolades, Shaw struggled to maintain consistency at the highest level. Fans and experts alike were perplexed by his sudden dip in form, especially given his immense talent and potential.

India returned to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 after a historic series win in 2018-19, becoming the first Asian team to win a Test series on Australian soil. Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, that series highlighted the effectiveness of Indian pacers in addition to their renowned spinners.

With great anticipation, India entered the 2020-21 series confidently, while Australia sought redemption.

The match took a challenging turn right at the start when Prithvi Shaw, expected to be India’s rising star, was bowled by Mitchell Starc on just the second delivery of the match, setting a competitive tone for the series.

Former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting, who led Australia to two World Cup victories, provided commentary during the series. Ponting analysed Shaw's batting technique, noting that while Shaw was comfortable playing balls that moved away from his body, he struggled with deliveries that came towards him.

Ponting commented, "He’s got a little chink in his armour, I think. It’s the ball that comes back into him. He’s very comfortable playing the ball away from his body. He gets his head in line and plays under his eyes, but he doesn’t commit his front foot to the line of the ball, often leaving a big gap between bat and pad, and that’s where the Aussies will target. Starc will try to swing one back through the gate."



Shaw’s difficulties with inswinging deliveries became evident. On the very next ball, Starc bowled a well-executed inswinger, exploiting the gap between Shaw’s bat and pad due to minimal front foot movement. Shaw was dismissed similarly in the second innings, this time by Pat Cummins, who capitalised on the same technical weakness.

After this match, Prithvi Shaw was dropped from the Indian test team and has not made a comeback to the Test team yet.

India faced a massive setback in the first match, scoring just 36 runs in their second innings before being bowled out. Despite this early challenge, India went on to stage a remarkable comeback in the series.




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