India batter Prithvi Shaw has made it clear that he doesn’t want anyone’s sympathy as he charts his way back into the national reckoning.
Determined to start from the basics, the 24-year-old believes in working his way up again – and his fresh journey with Maharashtra has already been boosted by a century in the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament.
“Don’t want anyone’s sympathy,” Shaw said firmly, underlining his intent to let his bat do the talking. At Guru Nanak College Ground in Chennai, anchoring Maharashtra’s innings against Chhasttisgarh, even as wickets tumbled around him.
Shaw admitted that he was ready to climb from the bottom if that’s what it takes.
“I don’t mind coming from scratch again because I’ve seen many ups and downs in my life. And I’ve been up there, I’ve been down there, I’ve come back up. So, everything is possible, I feel. I’m kind of a very confident guy, confident in myself, my work ethics. I feel, I hope that this season will go really well for me as well as for my team.”
After a period marked by missed India call-ups, going unsold in the IPL, and being dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji squad, Shaw’s move to Maharashtra is both a reset and a statement.
He said his approach is to stick to what worked for him in the past.
“I don’t want to change anything. I just went back to basics, doing things that I used to do in Under-19 days, which got me to the Indian team, just doing all the stuff back again, you know, practicing more, gym, running. It’s small things, obviously, it’s not that big because I’ve been doing these things since the age of 12 and 13.”
That reset also involves avoiding distractions.
“Just trying to be myself and not really trying to be on social media or anything and those kinds of distractions. Nowadays social media, it’s quite bad. It’s kind of peaceful when I’m not using it. It’s always about learning for me. And like I said before, I’m confident enough in myself and what I am.”
For Shaw, the focus now is on stacking up consistent performances at the domestic level, hoping that steady runs will open the door for an India recall in the near future.