Ricky Ponting Justifies Decision to Drop Prithvi Shaw
Shaw has been dropped from the DC playing XI [AP Photos]
Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting gave grounds for the decision to drop talented batter Prithvi Shaw for the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Shaw's struggle possesses immensity as in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, he played six matches and scored 47 runs at an average of 7.83 before getting dropped.
Mentioning the same, Ponting talked about Shaw's recent numbers and how his poor run in IPL 2023 is an extension from the previous season.
"It just came to the point, where yes, it was six games this season, but I think it was six or seven games at the back end of last season as well," Ponting said on the eve of Capitals' return fixture against Sunrisers. "I think it's 13 [12] games since Prithvi has made a fifty opening the batting for the Delhi Capitals, which, if you look throughout the tournament, there are a lot of other players at the top of the order with other teams that are playing a whole lot better than Prithvi," Ponting said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"We needed to find a bit of a spark at the top of the order, and Phil Salt moved there in the last game - that didn't quite work as well,"
The Australian legend also spoke on Shaw's talent and his game-changing ability but admitted that his exclusion was the need of the hour.
"So yeah, Prithvi, absolutely, at his absolute best we know he is a match-winner. That's one of the reasons that he is a retained player here at the Delhi Capitals, because we know that if he bats a certain amount of balls, we win about 95% of the games, but so far this season he hasn't been able to produce.
"I think the six games that he played, it was just over 40-odd runs, averaging about 7 or 8, so that's not what we require right now. So it was a tough decision to leave him out, but hopefully, the team that we put on the park tomorrow can win another game for us."
Ponting even went back to talk about his statement on the 23-year-old before the season started and how it has not come off well as of now.
If Ponting words are to be believed, Shaw will continue to sit out as Delhi Capitals host Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 29.
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