Prithvi Shaw shown the mirror by Delhi Capitals coach Pravin Amre: ‘If you’re not in form, you can’t keep your place’.

Delhi Capitals assistant coach Pravin Amre could not be more straightforward in justifying dropping Prithvi Shaw from the Playing XI. Prithvi Shaw seems to be at the crossroads of his Delhi Capitals career. Once a bankable opener, Shaw is struggling to make it to the Playing XI, and his extended poor run could lead to an exit from the Capitals once and for all ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. At least, that’s the takeaway one could get listening to DC’s assistant coach Pravin Amre. Shaw began DC’s IPL 2024 campaign, playing eight matches but scoring 198 runs. He was eventually dropped for Abishek Porel and the youngster took the role like a fish to water. With two half-centuries and a rampant 36, Porel has pretty much solidified his position as an opener. His promotion from No. 4 has worked well for both DC and Amre, who justified Shaw’s omission by highlighting Porel’s scintillating form. “He [Shaw] was our retained played, and as you see, last four [of five] games he was also on the bench. But that’s the IPL. If you are not in form, you can’t [keep your place]. Ultimately, the pressure for the team is so much that every game is important and we have to win. And we had done that. Without playing him, we won the games. And whoever got the opportunity… I think Abishek grabbed the opportunities with both hands,” Amre, whose book launched on Monday, said. Has Prithvi Shaw played his last game for Delhi Capitals? This isn’t the first time Shaw has battled poor form and, as a result, sat out of the Playing XI. Last season, too, Shaw played eight games and scored 106 runs before a bout of typhoid cut short his campaign. This year, the two good knocks he played were 43 and 66 against Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians before his form deserted him. But as they say, one’s loss is another’s gain. Porel, who began the tournament batting in the middle order, scored 159 runs at a strike rate of over 165 and given DC explosive starts more often than not. Along with Jake Fraser-McGurk, who has been a revelation for not just DC but also this IPL, Porel. Opening the innings against Rajasthan Royals, both scored a half-century, setting the base for a match-winning total, before Porel slammed 58 off 33 in DC’s final league game of the season against Lucknow Super Giants. In Porel and Fraser-McGurk, DC may have at last found a reliable, dangerous and young opening pair that could be a solution for years to come. And Amre knows it. “What an innings [Porel] played [against LSG]. We saw Jake [Fraser-McGurk] getting out in the first over and even then we managed to get 73 runs in the powerplay. I think that’s what was so critical and the credit goes to Shai Hope and Porel for getting that 92-run partnership today,” Amre added.