 "Shane Watson has backed Prithvi Shaw to make a successful comeback in his cricketing career. Reuters")
After Kevin Pietersen, former Australia cricketer Shane Watson has shared words of support for struggling India batter Prithvi Shaw and termed the youngster as a “precocious talent”. Prithvi Shaw, who is currently out of favour with Team India, has been undergoing a difficult period in his cricketing career currently due to poor form and fitness, as well as disciplinary issues.
Shaw, who led India’s Under-19 team to the World Cup title in 2018, has played five Tests, six ODIs, and one T20I for India since making his international debut in 2018. While he failed to score in his only T20I in 2021, the 25-year-old has aggregated 528 runs from ODIs and Tests. Shaw, however, recently went unsold at the IPL 2025 mega auction that took place in Jeddah recently.
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Former England cricketer Pietersen had recently shared encouraging words for Shaw, saying that being around the right people and staying away from social media would do him wonders. “Some of the greatest sports stories are COMEBACK stories,” Pietersen said on “X”.
“If Prithvi Shaw has decent people around him who care about his long term success, they’d sit him down, tell him to get off social media & train his absolute backside off in getting super fit. It’ll get him back into the correct path where past success can return. Too talented to throw it all away. Love, KP!,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
Watson, a former assistant coach of Delhi Capitals in the IPL agreed with Pietersen’s comments. “I completely agree @KP24..Prithvi is such a precocious talent and these are all that is required for him to turn things around and be one of Indian Cricket’s biggest heroes,” he replied to Pietersen’s message on “X”.
Shaw is currently playing for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and has scored just 96 from five matches, with his best score of 40 coming against Nagaland on 1 December. Shaw last played for India in a T20I against Sri Lanka in Colombo three years ago, where he was dismissed for a first-ball duck.