‘My mind was messed up’: Shaw reveals the advice he got from Sachin Tendulkar after disappointing tour of Australia

Shaw played the first Test in Adelaide and played just 6 balls in the two innings he played. He was dropped from the playing XI as Shubman Gill replaced him. Shaw was criticised heavily for his technique.

Prithvi Shaw had a miserable 2020 with the bat as he failed to capitalize on the chances provided to him. The 21-year-old batting sensation had to endure a below-par season in Indian Premier League 2020 for Delhi Capitals as coach Ricky Ponting highlighted the shortcomings in his game. Then his weakness to in-swingers was again exposed during India’s tour of Australia. Shaw opened the innings for India in the first Test in Adelaide and played just 6 balls in the two innings he played.

He was dropped from the playing XI as Shubman Gill replaced him. Shaw was criticised heavily for his technique as the youngster faced a low period early in his career. However, he has been lighting up the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy with his strokeplay.

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Shaw has scored 754 runs in seven games at an average of 188.5 in the tournament. It looks like Shaw is finally redeeming himself and a good performance in the IPL could again put him in the reckoning for a spot in Team India.

Shaw recently opened up about his struggles with the bat and how he talked to Sachin Tendulkar after the Australia tour.

“I met Sachin sir (Tendulkar) after I came back, he said don’t make too many changes and to just play as close to the body as I could. I was late on the ball. So during the entire Australia tour, I worked on that part. Maybe it was because I had gone to Australia after playing in Dubai (IPL),” Shaw told Indian Express.

“My mind was messed up. My bat was coming down from the gully area, but that’s how I have scored runs all my life. The problem was the way I was getting out and I had to fix it immediately. My back lift was the same but my bat was coming down slightly away from my body. There was an issue with the initial movement. I was in a fixed position. I needed to keep my bat closer to my body, which I wasn’t doing,” Shaw added.

Shaw also revealed that he sought the help of head coach Ravi Shastri and batting coach Vikram Rathour to fix his problems.

“Ravi (Shastri) Sir and Vikram (Rathour) Sir made me realize where I was going wrong. I had to find a solution. Just go back to the nets and fix it. There were small mistakes that I was making. Those two innings (Adelaide, pink-ball Test) made me look bad,” he said.

Source: Hindustan Times