Having missed the initial couple of games in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) as the Delhi Capitals team management were trying new options, opener Prithvi Shaw made a statement with a sensational knock against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, and eventually helped the Capitals open their account with their first win in the 17th season of the cash-rich league.

Shaw smoked a quickfire 43 off 27 balls to set the tone for Delhi Capitals’ mighty score of 191 against five-time champions CSK in Sunday’s evening game playing in Visakhapatnam. Playing his first game of the season, Shaw struck two sixes and four fours, and combined with fellow opener David Warner to get DC to 93 inside 10 overs. Skipper Rishabh Pant then built on the sound opening stand, with a whirlwind half-century to take the side to an eventual match-winning total.

Shaw, who returned to action after recovering from an injury that kept him out for close to five months, dispelled doubts over his form and fitness, and more importantly bolstered DC’s batting that looked vulnerable in the first couple of games. Returning to the XI, Shaw had a memorable experience playing in front of a capacity Vizag crowd, something he tried to sum up in conversation with the IPL official website.

“I don’t really know about this year but obviously during the IPL, they expect me to whack the ball, whack every ball. I don’t take it as pressure or anything. I take it as a challenge and try to do my best. Felt good to play white-ball after so long. It was a good atmosphere,” Shaw said.

“After coming out of injury, of course that hunger is there. You want to middle the ball and IPL is that kind of a game, where you middle the ball, you know it’s your day. Usually, it’s about trying and hitting everything but today I was playing smartly because in four overs we were 24,” he added.

I’m not a kid anymore

Shaw, who joined the Delhi franchise back in 2018, the year the Delhi Daredevils were rechristened to the Delhi Capitals, has scored 1737 runs from 72 matches at an average of 24.13 with 13 half-centuries.

In 2021, Shaw was one of the highest scorers of the season, amassing 479 runs, but injuries and lack of form have been a dampener in his rise. Sharing his experience in the franchise and the tradition from a kid to one of the seniors in the team, Shaw said the management had discussed with him and he wasn’t much worried despite being benched for DC’s opening games against Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

“When I didn’t get to play the first two games, they were telling me that you will get an opportunity. We are just trying to do some new stuff and to be honest, I was really happy with it. I just knew that once the opportunity came, I’ll do my best,” he said.

“This is my seventh year with the Delhi Capitals franchise and they have always welcomed me very nicely. They have looked after me like a kid. I’m not a kid anymore; I have become a senior player now since it’s my 7th year.”

“But this year too they knew about my injury. And those five months how difficult it was to come back to the field and get into that zone again. But I was really supported by the owners, support staff, Ricky (Ponting) sir, Sourav (Ganguly) sir, Praveen (Amre) sir,” he added.