Delhi Capitals (DC) opener Prithvi Shaw commended the franchise and its support team for communicating openly with him regarding his absence from the first two games of the IPL 2024.
Prithvi Shaw eventually appeared in the team’s third match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), scoring an impressive 43 off 27 balls. Shaw’s 93-run opening stand with David Warner helped DC post a challenging 191/5 in 20 overs, which they held off by 20 runs to win their first game of the season.
In a video provided by the official IPL Twitter feed, Shaw stated:
“Even when I didn’t get to play the first two games, they were still talking to me saying I’ll get my opportunity and that they were just trying some new stuff. And to be honest, I was really happy with it that they are trying and just thought if I get my opportunity I’ll do my best for them.”
Prithvi Shaw
He also thanked the franchise for their continuous support throughout his seven-year stint.
“They’ve been fantastic. This is my 7th year for the franchise and they’ve always welcomed me very nicely and looked after me like a kid ( though I am a senior player now). Even this year, they knew my injury and how difficult those 5 months were , to come back to the field and get into that zone again. But they really supported me, owners, support staff – Ricky sir (Ponting), Sourav sir (Ganguly), Pravin sir (Amre).”
Prithvi Shaw
After a promising start to his IPL career, Prithvi Shaw suffered significantly last season, collecting only 106 runs in eight games at an average of 13.25 and a strike rate of 124.71.
“After coming back from injury, the hunger is there where you want to middle the ball. And IPL is that kind of a game where if you middle the ball, you know it’s your day and you try and hit everything. But today I was trying to play smartly because we were 24 in 4 overs and trying to sort it out.”
Prithvi Shaw
At a time, the Mumbai player faced a knee issue. This hampered him for half-a-year before Ranji Trophy comeback in February.
Prithvi Shaw missed the first two games of the IPL 2024, as DC chose Warner and Mitchell Marsh to begin the batting.
“I am very lucky to be playing in his presence” – Prithvi Shaw on MS Dhoni
Prithvi Shaw also felt himself lucky to be able to learn from and play with the legendary MS Dhoni.
Dhoni, 42, continues to shine for CSK, hitting an incredible 37* off 16 despite their defeat to DC.
“No words for him. Whenever he comes on the ground, everyone can hear the noise for what he has achieved and the kind of happiness he provides the people. Whenever I get a chance to meet him or talk to him, he always shares his experience and what he has done throughout and what I need to work on. It’s incredible and I am very lucky to be playing in his presence.”
Prithvi Shaw
Before the 2024 season, Dhoni handed up the CSK leadership to Ruturaj Gaikwad after winning the team to five IPL titles.
The former skipper was spotted talking with numerous DC cricketers after the game in Visakhapatnam.