NEW DELHI: For most of Delhi Capitals<\/a>‘ training at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Friday evening, Prithvi Shaw cut a forlorn figure, strolling around the practice area and reluctantly going through some bat-swing drills before ambling in for a hit in a net away from the core team. It’s remarkable that his stocks have come crashing down just halfway through the IPL, when he came into the tournament promising so much with his dominating form in domestic cricket.
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In contrast, David Warner<\/a> and Mitchell Marsh<\/a> slogged it out in the nets at the main square for a good hour on the eve of their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad<\/a>. It’s ironical that a franchise which built its brand and core around young Indian batters for four years has to now look at its overseas recruits in the hope of a dramatic turnaround.
Going by the proceedings in the beleaguered Capitals camp, Prithvi’s prospects for the rest of the season don’t look bright. Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting<\/a> was very curt in reminding that Prithvi has been off the boil beyond this season. “It is six games this season, I think six or seven game in the back end of last season. I think it has been 13 games since Prithvi has made a fifty,” Ponting said on the eve of the match.
“If you look at the tournament, there are a lot of players at the top of the team that are playing a lot better than Prithvi. We needed to find that spark at the top of the order, and Phil Salt moved there last game. Prithvi, we know, is a match-winner and that was one of the reasons why he was being retained. So far this season, he has just managed 40-odd runs, that’s not what we require,” Ponting added.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGiven how he had stated earlier that this might be the defining season for Prithvi, it must not have been easy for Ponting to acknowledge the rut. “When he arrived this year, he was with the NCA for a few weeks, working really hard on his fitness and was in good physical shape. What he did in the nets suggested to me that this might be a big year for him. When guys are performing or not performing, it is my job to have a good, honest, open conversation. Nothing is different with Prithvi,” Ponting asserted.
If ever Capitals would have hoped for one opposition to start their recovery this season, facing an-equally out-of-form SRH team may have been on the top of their wish list. Both teams have looked out of sorts, having lost their core after the mega auction last year.
Watch<\/i> IPL 2023: DC vs SRH – Battle of the bottom dwellers<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n