Mumbai skipper Shreyas Iyer has cautioned out-of-favour Prithvi Shaw, also his state teammate, to get his work ethic right and figure out what needs doing in order for him to reach his peak again.
Mumbai won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Sunday, defeating Madhya Pradesh in the summit clash. It saw Iyer become the first Indian to lead his team to the IPL and the SMAT trophies in the same year - having earlier overseen Kolkata Knight Riders to their third title.
Following the win, Iyer singled out Shaw, who has been in the news recently for his indiscipline and fitness. Shaw, once touted as a future superstar, has seen his career hit a road bump of late. He was recently dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy squad due to high body fat content and irregular practice sessions, a few months after being released by his IPL team Delhi Capitals. The most dampening, however, would have been going unsold in the 2025 mega-auctions.
The former under-19 winning captain, who has been embroiled in several controversies thus far, was asked by Iyer to “sit back and put a thinking cap on” about his career.
“He needs to get his work ethics right, and if he does that, the sky is the limit for him.
Adelaide: dismissed on the first ball.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 16, 2024
Brisbane: dismissed on the second ball.
Yashasvi Jaiswal's struggle against Mitchell Starc continues as he fell early in the third Test.
Scorecard ➡️ https://t.co/8veSibIuvn pic.twitter.com/duweXKKhaD
“We can't babysit anyone, right? Every professional who is playing at this level, they need to know what they should be doing," Iyer said. "And he has also done it in the past; it's not that he hasn't. He has to focus, he has to sit back, [and] put a thinking cap on, and then figure out himself. He will get the answer by himself."
Shaw played all nine games in the SMAT for Mumbai, making 197 runs at an average of 21.88 and a strike rate of 156.34.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
