Shaw has been tipped for the top for the best part of the decade. From his world record of 546 runs in a Harris Shield match as a 14-year-old to scoring a first-class century on debut as a 17-year-old, from winning the Under-19 World Cup for India as captain to becoming the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut, records have chased Shaw like a shadow.

Yet, despite making his international debut at the age of 18, he has managed to play only 12 games across formats in nearly five years now. While some of it has been down to technical deficiencies that emerged at the highest level, a lot of it has also been down to disciplinary and fitness issues, and some pure bad luck.

Injuries and doping violation keep him out till 2020

After scoring 237 runs from two Tests in his debut series against West Indies, Shaw next played for India in February 2020. He missed out on the Border Gavaskar series in 2018-19 after injuring his ankle in a warm-up game before the first match of the series.

For the subsequent home season in 2019-20, Shaw was suspended due to a doping violation when it was found that he had consumed a cough syrup containing a substance that is prohibited both In & Out of Competition in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances. He was handed an eight-month back-dated suspension which saw him miss out on home series against Bangladesh and South Africa.

Dip in form and confidence

After producing decent returns in the two-Test series in New Zealand where the entire Indian batting line-up crumbled, Shaw’s form dipped. IPL 2020 was a disaster. He registered only 228 runs at an average of 17.5. It was the time of the pandemic and the 2020-21 season of the Ranji Trophy stood cancelled.

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Shaw was picked in the Test side for the 2020-21 tour of Australia since he was the incumbent, but it was clear that he was low on confidence and with his teammate from the Under-19 World Cup, Shubman Gill, waiting in the wings, he wouldn’t be getting many opportunities to fail.

In the first Test in Adelaide, Shaw was bowled twice for low scores. By Mitchell Starc in the first innings, and by Pat Cummins in the second. His technique suddenly looked all over the place and he was dropped.

Hot and cold performances coupled with off-field controversies

Shaw last played for India in July 2021 when a second-string side toured Sri Lanka. Since then, he has blown hot and cold in domestic cricket and the IPL. He scored a triple century in the 2022-2023 Ranji Trophy against Assam but managed only one fifty-plus score from nine innings apart from that.

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In the Vijay Hazare Trophy last season, Shaw amassed 217 runs at an average of 31. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was a good one as far as overall numbers go, 332 runs from 10 innings at a strike rate of 181.42, but that included a 61-ball 134 against Assam, giving rise to the narrative that he only scored against the weaker teams. IPL 2021 and 2022 were good, but IPL 2023 wasn’t. In fact, it turned out to be his worst season so far, averaging 13.2 from eight games.

To go with these inconsistent returns, Shaw could not seem to catch a break from landing himself in controversies off the field. From being involved in a fight outside a club to posting regular, cryptic social media posts, Shaw was always in the news and not for the right reasons.

He finally made a comeback to the India squad earlier this year when he was selected for the T20I series against New Zealand. However, he didn’t get to play a single game as India preferred to cash in on Gill’s hot streak by giving him three games. Shaw’s poor IPL 2023 meant that his comeback ended before it even began as found himself out of favour again.

Shaw is currently playing in the One-Day Cup in England and after two decent starts in the first two games, he has finally announced his arrival with a mammoth, record-breaking double-hundred. Despite such a dominating performance, there has been noise around his shape and fitness.

Recently in an interview with Wisden India, Shaw said that he aims to play for India for 12-14 years and win a World Cup for his country. Whether this knock helps him resume his India dream soon or not, remains to be seen.