Right-handed opening batter Prithvi Shaw went unsold at the IPL 2026 auctions, extending his absence from the league after failing to attract bids in the previous cycle as well.
Shaw has been part of the IPL since 2018, representing only one franchise throughout his career — Delhi Daredevils/Delhi Capitals. Despite a promising start and flashes of brilliance over the years, the former India opener has struggled to find consistency in recent seasons, which appears to have weighed on franchise decisions.
In his IPL career so far, Shaw has played 79 matches, scoring 1,892 runs at an average of 23.95 and a healthy strike rate of 147.47. He has registered 14 half-centuries, with a highest score of 99, narrowly missing out on a maiden IPL hundred.
Shaw’s best season came in IPL 2021, when he scored 479 runs in 15 matches at an average of 31.93 and a strike rate of 159.13, finishing as the seventh-highest run-scorer that year. He also created history in that season by becoming only the second batter in IPL history to hit six fours in a single over, against Kolkata Knight Riders.
However, his form dipped sharply in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, where fitness concerns and inconsistency limited his impact. Delhi Capitals eventually released him, and Shaw went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction, leaving him without a franchise last season.
Since then, Shaw has shifted his domestic cricket base from Mumbai to Maharashtra in an effort to revive his career and regain rhythm. Despite showing signs of improvement at the domestic level, franchises chose not to bid for him at the IPL 2026 auctions, making his future in the league uncertain for now.
