batter team India Shreyas Iyer shared his thoughts on Prithvi Shaw ahead of the second leg of the 2024-2025 Ranji Trophy, which resumes on Thursday, January 23. Shreyas Iyer praised Prithvi Shaw but added that the young opener needs to focus on improving his work ethic to regain his place.
The 25-year-old batsman's recent struggles have been largely down to off-field controversies and concerns about his fitness. Shaw went unsold in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega-auction and things got worse when he was dropped from the Mumbai squad during the Ranji Trophy campaign.
Prithvi Shaw is blessed with a phenomenal talent – Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer emphasized the importance of work ethic when discussing the decline of Prithvi Shaw. Shreyas said Shaw has natural talent, especially his ability to time the ball and score quickly. He believes Shaw is incredibly talented and improving his approach will lead to positive results.
“Prithvi Shaw has also started on a great note. He has a great blessing to time the ball and score runs at a great pace. And we all in the team feel that he is blessed with that phenomenal talent. So, just focus on his work ethic and everything will follow, He is God-given,” Iyer said (via The Indian Express).
Prithvi Shaw focused on fitness to come back strong
Prithvi Shaw, who led India to victory in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, has been hailed as a future star of Indian cricket. He made an impressive debut with a knock of 134 runs in a Test against the West Indies. Shaw scored 339 runs in five Tests and appeared in seven white-ball matches for India.
Shaw was recently left out of Mumbai's squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy and it remains uncertain whether he will be included in Mumbai's Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir starting on January 23. strong comeback.
Abhishek doesn't focus too much on players' mentality – Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer praised Abhishek Nayar for his coaching approach. They also worked together at Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL. Iyer described Nayar's coaching style as focused on improving players by enhancing their natural skills and aptitudes, rather than trying to change a player's technique.
“Abhishek doesn't talk much to the players about their mindset. He just tries to make everyone feel comfortable around him. And they try to gain knowledge about the environment they come from, about their way of thinking, about how they react in a certain situation. And culminating in all these factors, he tries and executes certain things while practicing with them. So I think that's his strength as a coach,” Iyer said (as per the source mentioned above).
“Whenever he gives you a point or whenever he tries to improve your skills, he's not going to be inclined to change your technique or anything. They would let you be yourself. And it would let you enjoy the sport more. than thinking or overthinking a particular point and that is one of the best things about him that makes him a bit different from other coaches,” concluded Iyer.
BCCI's decision to bring in Sitanshu Kotak as additional batting coach signals uncertainty over Abhishek Nayar's position. Nayar's future as India's assistant coach could be influenced by the team's performance in the upcoming ODI series against England and the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Read also: IPL 2025: Shreyas Iyer reveals all about getting kicked out of KKR