CHENNAI: When Delhi Capitals began their 2024 IPL campaign, all eyes were on Rishabh Pant, and understandably so. After all, he was coming back to competitive cricket after almost 15 months. Amidst all this, the old issues at the top of the order went under the radar.
After a forgettable season last year, they did not start with Prithvi Shaw in the playing XI. In eight games, Shaw only managed 106 runs. But the bigger reason, as head coach Ricky Ponting admitted on Saturday, was the absence of Anrich Nortje. Which meant DC went in with an all-Indian bowling line-up, playing four overseas batters. They started with Mitchell Marsh and David Warner, but it did not give the expected results, adding more pressure on Pant.
Cut to Sunday, Nortje was back and Delhi went back to Shaw and Warner at the top against Chennai Super Kings at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. And immediately, the difference was there to see. While Shaw took his time to settle in, Warner went after the Chennai bowlers. Shaw’s big breakthrough came against Mustafizur Rahman in the last over of the powerplay.
He pulled out his trademark leg-glances, the ones that can be compared frame to frame with Sachin Tendulkar, and a backfoot punch to hit three consecutive fours. When Ravindra Jadeja came on, Shaw went down on his knee to send the spinner into the stands. Warner did his bit on the side, racing to a half-century, but the focus remained on the Indian opener.
He once again smashed Jadeja for a six before eventually getting out to the left-arm spinner for 43 runs from 27 balls. When he took the long walk back, the scoreboard read 103/2 in 10.4 overs. From thereon, captain Pant took over. He bided his time before launching against Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana in the death overs. Pant’s 51 off 32 balls helped Delhi post 191/5 in 20 overs. In reply, CSK managed 171/6, falling short by 20 runs.
Although one could say that Shaw had done his job, the frustration was visible on his face. In what was his first chance after a long layoff, he had missed out on a big score. After all, Shaw had missed the entire white-ball domestic season due to injury. He returned to action in the Ranji Trophy and played a part in Mumbai’s Ranji title victory, but the frustration associated with Shaw is not just about his injury or lack of runs.
Anointed as the next big thing after the 2018 U19 World Cup triumph, Shaw was fast-tracked to the Indian set-up but he failed to meet the expectations. A known weakness against shortball and some off-field issues did not help him either as he soon found himself out of favour. In the IPL, however, he thrived. Such was his impact at the top that Delhi had retained him ahead of the mega auction in 2022.
Since then, the road has not been easy and he had a point to prove. After a year of frustration, Shaw has got another chance in the IPL. While the road is still long, he has started well and one can only hope that this is the beginning of a new chapter in his career. Brief scores: DC 191/5 in 20 ovs (Warner 52, Pant 51, Shaw 43; Pathirana 3/31) bt CSK 171/6 in 20 ovs (Rahane 45, Dhoni 37 n.o; Mukesh 3/21).
