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'Make Or Break Season For Him' - Kumble On Delhi Capitals Retaining Prithvi Shaw 

image-lpgjk221Prithvi Shaw for Delhi Capitals (X.com)

Anil Kumble underlined Delhi Capitals (DC) retaining Prithvi Shaw ahead of the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as a major vote of confidence on the struggling top-order batter and reckoned the 2024 season will be a "make or break" campaign for the Mumbaikar. 

Shaw endured a lacklustre IPL 2023 with the bat and made just 106 runs in his eight innings at a pedestrian average of 13.25 while posting a strike-rate below 125. The young swashbuckling cricketer posed a brittle presence at the top of the innings and was dropped twice in the middle of the campaign. 

Since then, the 24-year-old has faced injury struggles on his knee and was forced out of his English county deal with Northamptonshire. He is currently under a rehabilitation programme to be fit in time for the height of the 2023-24 Indian domestic season. 

Shaw has also faced extensive scrutiny for his alleged off-field shenanigans and a controversial brawl with members of the public, a clip of which went viral on social media and further raised talks of the cricketer being a notorious failure on disciplinary and fitness grounds. 

Anil Kumble On Delhi Capitals Retaining Prithvi Shaw 

Speaking to JioCinema, Kumble highlighted how the number of Indian players who started their respective careers alongside Shaw or even after him have gone ahead of him in the pecking order across formats. After enjoying a tremendous rise in U-19 and the domestic circuit, Shaw was fast-tracked to play for India but hasn't added to his 12 international caps since July 2021. 

"This is something that he needs to understand. Players that have played with him have gone ahead . For example Shubman Gill, who is one of India's best players, and a young player who is looking at a future with the team for a long time. And Shaw has missed out on that. So this is simply a make or break season for him," Kumble said. 


"Prithvi Shaw has to look at his fitness. I think that's something that is constantly spoken about. It's not about his cricketing skills. Yes, there might be some chinks in his armour like all batters do."


"We've seen that he's someone who can take the game away in the T20 format. He's still young but he needs to work on his fitness. If Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly, David Warner can't get him to work on his fitness then it's a challenge," he added.