Prithvi Shaw was enjoying himself at Palam. Standing in as Maharashtra captain in Ruturaj Gaikwad’s absence in their Ranji Trophy 2026-27 opener, the 26-year-old was chirpy, animated and seemingly involved in everything. He was chatting with his teammates, joking with the match officials and plotting a victory against Services with the enthusiasm of a man who had plenty of reasons to enjoy a good day at work.
His captaincy was proactive. With Services chasing 248 in the fourth innings on Wednesday, Shaw kept faith in his spinners, resisting the temptation to bring back the in-form Mukesh Choudhary. Maharashtra eventually bowled Services out for 120, completing a convincing victory despite losing more than a session to rain earlier in the match.
Prithvi Shaw had done his bit with the bat, scoring a brisk 70 in the first innings. But there was another performance that particularly pleased him. Senior batter and his longtime friend, Ankit Bawne, had scored a century and followed it up with 48 in the second innings, helping Maharashtra take control of the contest. When the match ended, Shaw made sure to congratulate him.
There was a lightness about Shaw throughout the day. He looked comfortable leading the side, comfortable around his teammates and, most importantly, happy to be playing cricket. There was little in his demeanour to suggest the difficult few years he had endured.
He was in a hurry to leave the ground, heading towards his car, having decided not to travel in the team bus, but stopped to speak to two reporters. What followed was a candid conversation in which Shaw spoke about his ambitions, the mistakes people make, the pressure of expectations and the pleasures of staying indoors with his PlayStation.
At one point, he laughed about how he could score 400 or 500 runs in a cricket video game after getting out for a duck in real life. At another, he spoke firmly about his desire to return to the Indian team.
But first, he wanted to talk about the things he had chosen to keep close.
“I am working harder than ever before. Obviously, I am not quite on social media right now. I am just working on myself. Just me, my cricket and my family. Those are the only three things I am focusing on right now. Anything else, I am just trying to ignore or keep aside,” Prithvi Shaw said.
For someone who has spent almost half his life in the public eye, it is a significant change. Shaw was a cricketing celebrity long before he became an international cricketer. His extraordinary exploits in school cricket made him a household name among followers of the game, and the attention only intensified when he captained India to the Under-19 World Cup title in 2018.
The years since have brought a different kind of publicity. His performances, fitness and discipline have been debated extensively, while episodes from his personal life have regularly found their way into headlines and social media discussions. Shaw has often been the subject of conversations in which cricket is only one part of the story.
‘DON’T LIKE GOING OUT ANYMORE’
He has grown tired of that attention, particularly when it follows him away from the ground.
“No, no, it is not about that. It is about a lot of these papparazzi people and all. And I just do not like going out anymore,” he said.
“I have my personal space, and obviously, you guys know how I am and what I like personally. It is good for other people; someone likes it, someone does not. I do not like cameras around me when I am living my personal life somewhere.”
These days, Shaw is quite happy spending an evening in his hotel room. There is Netflix when he wants to watch something and a PlayStation when he feels like playing. He likes GTA, considers himself rather good at FIFA, plays Tekken and occasionally turns to cricket.
That last game offers him a rather amusing escape from the frustrations of his profession.
“I play GTA, and then I play FIFA, of course. I am very good at FIFA. I play online sometimes. Then I play Tekken. What else do I play? I play cricket as well. I have got my own career mode. I play as myself. If I get out for zero or something low, I go there and score 400 or 500. That is the kind of motivation I get from it. It is fun.”
He laughed as he described it. Imagine getting out for a duck in a Ranji Trophy match, returning to the hotel, picking up the controller and smashing 500 runs as Prithvi Shaw. No difficult pitch, no disappointed dressing room, no long wait for the next innings. Just Shaw, playing as Shaw, making sure Shaw gets a big hundred. Or four.
“When you are in the room, you know, I have stopped going outside. Even if I go out, it is for dinner or something. I like being in the room and playing my PlayStation. Obviously, there is Netflix and all that stuff to watch, so I am enjoying it.”
THE WEIGHT OF BEING 26
It is easy to forget that Shaw is only 26.
He was 14 when he scored 546 in a Harris Shield match in Mumbai, an innings that made him a national talking point. He was 18 when he captained India to the Under-19 World Cup title and, later that year, announced his arrival in Test cricket with a century on debut against the West Indies in Rajkot.
For a while, everything seemed to be happening ahead of schedule. Shaw had the attacking game, the numbers and the confidence of a young batter who appeared destined for a long international career. Comparisons with some of India’s greatest batters followed him before he had played enough cricket to establish an identity of his own.
But his international career stalled almost as quickly as it had begun. He has played five Tests, six ODIs and one T20I for India, with his last appearance coming against Sri Lanka in July 2021.
Since then, there have been periods of good form, injuries, questions over fitness and discipline, and increasingly difficult conversations about whether he would fulfil the promise that once made him one of Indian cricket’s most exciting prospects.
The setbacks became particularly severe in the 2024-25 season. Mumbai dropped Shaw from their Ranji Trophy squad in October 2024 amid reported concerns over fitness and discipline. A few weeks later, he went unsold at the IPL 2025 mega auction. Delhi Capitals, the franchise that had backed him since 2018, had released him, and none of the other teams came forward.
For a player accustomed to being spoken about as the future of Indian cricket, it was a sobering period.
ECHOES OF CHAPPELL’S LETTER
It was around this time that former India coach Greg Chappell wrote Shaw a letter.
Chappell, who had watched him play for India’s Under-19 side, reminded the young batter that even great cricketers had experienced rejection. He cited his own career and the example of Don Bradman, urging Shaw to examine his approach, take responsibility and concentrate on the work required to get back.
“The past doesn’t define you, Prithvi. It’s what you do from here that matters,” Chappell wrote in the letter, which was reported in November 2024.
Nearly two years later, Shaw’s own words carry a striking resemblance to that advice. He is no longer particularly interested in revisiting what went wrong or answering everyone who has an opinion about him.
“I feel that comments from outside do not really matter to me,” he said.
“What matters is what my family thinks about me and how I am as a person. I know myself and what are the right things to do to achieve a milestone. I might be wrong somewhere, and that is not an issue. No one is correct in this life. A lot of people, including you, might not be correct. Everyone goes through it. It is all about destiny, and I never look at the past anymore.”
There is also the peculiar business of growing older in a profession where teenagers arrive every season. Shaw has been around long enough to be considered a senior player in domestic cricket, yet he is still several years younger than many established international batters.
He finds the situation rather funny.
“I am young, 100 per cent. But sometimes I see 18-year-olds playing, and I feel quite old right now. But, you know, obviously, I am just 26. It is not going to stop at 26, right? It is going to go on, so you cannot do anything about it. You just have to accept that fact.”
Shaw has already experienced enough to understand how demanding the domestic circuit can be. A Ranji Trophy season involves difficult pitches, long days in the field, travel, changing conditions and the pressure of performing consistently. He has seen promising youngsters arrive, and he has seen experienced players fight through lean patches.
“Like you said, 26 is not an age at which you should think you are old. Obviously, we are quite young, and with the youngsters coming in, we have to be on the ground and tell them that you know this is not easy. After playing 50 or 60-odd Ranji Trophy games, it is not easy to give 100 per cent and win a game like this. You have to give your 100 or 101 per cent, or whatever it takes. I think it is a great lesson that we, the senior players, are giving the youngsters. Hopefully, they do well because of it.”
FINDING HIS FEET IN MAHARASHTRA
Leaving Mumbai was another major decision in Shaw’s career. He had grown up in the city’s cricketing system, represented it across age groups and established himself as an international player while wearing its colours. Moving to Maharashtra meant leaving behind the association that had been central to his cricketing life.
The change, however, brought a fresh environment and familiar faces.
“They have been wonderful. This is my second year, and it has been really nice. They are taking good care of me. Obviously, changing states was not easy for me, but after coming here, it did not feel that way. I already knew a lot of people, so it was easy for me, and I am kind of enjoying it.”
There have been encouraging returns with the bat. In the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season, Shaw scored 537 runs in seven matches, including a remarkable 222 off 156 balls against Chandigarh. It was an innings filled with the attacking strokes that had first made him such an exciting prospect.
His form also helped him return to the IPL fold. Delhi Capitals bought him back for the 2026 season, giving him another opportunity at the franchise where his IPL journey had begun. Yet, even that comeback came with a qualification. Shaw spent the season without getting a game.
There are no shortcuts available to him now. The competition for opening positions in Indian cricket is formidable, and a player who has spent years away from the national side needs sustained performances to force his way back into the conversation.
“If you want to get to the top, there is a big line of openers waiting to go up, so you have to be consistent enough to be there. I have always seen that my team comes first before I do, and I think that is what makes my consistency level better.”
At Maharashtra, he is part of a dressing room that brings together experienced domestic cricketers and youngsters looking to establish themselves. He has also had opportunities to lead the side, including the match against Services at Palam.
“Maharashtra has a good bunch of kids. It is a mixture of seniors and juniors, but for me, everybody is equal. Before leading the side, I never believed in the senior-junior distinction. When I was a junior, I never felt that there was any difference because the same kind of opportunities and the same kind of pressure to perform were there for me as well. When someone is playing at this level, everyone should be treated equally. The kids are quite smart. They know what they are doing. It is an exceptional team.”
Shaw is also learning to occupy a different place in the dressing room. Once the teenager being guided by experienced players, he is now among those whom younger cricketers might approach for advice.
He has no intention of becoming the sort of senior who lectures youngsters about every aspect of their lives.
“See, it is not about traps or anything. I have never spoken wrong about anyone, and I will never do that. It’s on you how you handle stuff. Even if I have done certain things, they are going to make mistakes too, 100 per cent. Even if I tell them something, they will still make mistakes. It is not as if I can tell them, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do this,’ and they will listen. I am not that kind of a person. They have their own lives, and they can do whatever they want.”
There is, however, one thing he would like them to understand.
“But I will just tell them not to let their work ethic suffer and to make sure they do not start enjoying themselves more than they work. That is the only thing I will say. Otherwise, they can do whatever they want. It is their life. You have one life, so it is fine.”
ME VERSUS ME
For all the changes around Shaw, one ambition has remained remarkably constant.
He still wants to play for India.
It is a difficult goal. His last international appearance was more than five years ago, and Indian cricket has moved on considerably in that time. New openers have emerged, others have established themselves, and the competition for places has only intensified.
Shaw knows all of that. He also knows that an occasional big innings will not be enough. His challenge is to build the sort of consistency that makes selectors take notice again, while continuing to address the questions that have followed him through the difficult years.
But when asked whether the India dream still drives him, his response was immediate.
“If that goal were not there, I would not even be playing today. Obviously, the ultimate goal, the biggest goal, is to go back there and return to the Indian team. It is not about proving anything to anyone. It is me versus me. That is it.”
The boy who was once expected to become India’s next great batting star is now trying to find his own way back. He has been dropped by his state team, overlooked at an IPL auction and given a second chance by the franchise where it all began. He has experienced the attention that comes with extraordinary success and the criticism that follows when those early expectations are not met.
At Palam, though, Shaw seemed far removed from those conversations. He was busy setting fields, encouraging his bowlers, celebrating wickets and enjoying a win with his teammates. Once the cricket was done, he wanted to get back to his room, perhaps play some FIFA or give himself another enormous score on the PlayStation.
He knows the cameras will not disappear, nor will the questions about his career. There will be more scrutiny if he scores runs, and probably even more if he does not. He cannot do much about that.
What he can do is choose how he spends his time.
“I want to be with my guys, focus on cricket, focus on my work ethic and give more time to cricket. Then I go to the hotel room and play some PS5. That is it.”
The next morning, there will be another practice session, another match to prepare for and another opportunity to score runs. His phone can stay away. The opinions can wait.
The India dream cannot.
– Ends
