IPL 2021: Ashish Nehra feels Prithvi Shaw was harshly treated by Team India & Delhi Capitals last year

Ashish Nehra feels Prithvi Shaw was harshly treated by Team India and IPL outfit Delhi Capitals (DC) last year. The former pacer added that he will always back a player like Shaw over Ajinkya Rahane in the T20 format.

Prithvi Shaw was part of the Indian team that toured Australia last year. The batsman scored 0 and 2 in the first Test in Adelaide and was dropped for the rest of the series. The 21-year-old was then overlooked across all formats for the home series against England earlier this year.

The young opener also didn't have the best of times in the IPL last year as he registered three ducks and was dropped in favor of Ajinkya Rahane. Speaking on the matter, Ashish Nehra believes Shaw was dealt a rough hand by both Team India and DC.

"It's one thing that India went on to win the series (Border-Gavaskar trophy) but even then, I felt that he (Prithvi Shaw) shouldn't have been benched after one Test match. Even during last year's IPL, I felt he shouldn't have been dropped. He played a few good innings but couldn't score runs. But I will always back a player who has more runs than Rahane, when you talk of T20 cricket. I'm not saying that Rahane is not a good player, but in T20 cricket you need explosive players like Shaw, Pant, Stoinis and Hetmyer," Nehra said in an interaction with Cricbuzz.

Nehra further added that it was harsh on Team India's part to drop Shaw after just one Test Down Under.

"As far as technique is concerned, for any player it is difficult to adjust. Even during the Adelaide Test, he wasn't a player who had a lot of experience or played 30-40 Test matches. We were talking about a youngster. To drop him on the basis of one Test match was tough," Nehra added.

Prithvi Shaw's brilliant turnaround over the last few months

The 21-year-old has seemingly worked on his shortcomings and has reaped the rewards over the last few months. It started with his brilliant outing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he amassed 827 runs in eight games, becoming the first player to breach the 800-run mark in a single edition of the 50-over domestic tournament.

Prithvi Shaw was in fine form in IPL 2021 as well, scoring 308 runs in eight games at a blistering strike rate of 166. His partnerships with fellow DC opener Shikhar Dhawan were often the difference-maker in most Delhi Capitals' games this season.