Sunil Gavaskar gives honest opinion on Prithvi Shaw following his Ranji Trophy performance in 2024

Sunil Gavaskar has reacted to Prithvi Shaw’s performance in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024. The former Indian batter praised Shaw for his knock but was also concerned about his future. The Mumbai batter played his first match since getting injured in August 2023. He made his performance count by hitting a wonderful aggressive hundred against Chhattisgarh. It was an impressive knock by the youngster.

During his county stint last year, the star batter suffered knee injury and did not play for the rest of the year. The right handed batter underwent surgery in London and made his return in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024. His comeback was phenomenal, as he scored 159(185). Shaw’s knock included three sixes and a whopping 18 fours. The knock of Shaw caught the attention of the cricket world.

The Mumbai opener has scripted history as he became the first ever batter to score a hundred within the first session of a day two times in first class career. Sunil claimed that the time has come for Shaw to step up at the highest level. He also felt that the teams in the past had a wood over him. The former Indian opener was of the opinion that the bowlers had figured out a way to dismiss the star batter.

Sunil Gavaskar’s advice for Prithvi Shaw

Gavaskar claimed that teams knew Shaw had a high backlift and was a front foot dominant batter. “Time for him to step up but what has happened is that a lot of teams have found that because of his predominant movement onto the front foot and that high backlift, they go the short way with him,” Gavaskar felt. He further added that the Delhi Capitals batter must improve his play off the back foot. 

Gavaskar was of the opinion that Shaw would still be fine on tracks that are not much helpful for the bowlers. “So unless he starts to learn to play off the back foot, he is going to struggle. If the pitches are such where the ball doesn’t come up, then it will be fantastic for him,” Gavaskar added. Shaw has not played for India in a long time. The last time he featured for India was back in 2021 in the series against Sri Lanka.