One of the most disappointing parts for DC this season was Prithvi Shaw: Shane Watson

Delhi Capitals' (DC) young opener Prithvi Shaw has been one of the team's biggest underperformers in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). Ahead of the IPL 2023 season, DC head coach Ricky Pointing had said this would be the youngster’s breakthrough season. He has, however, performed terribly and was dropped after six games.

The David Warner-led side is currently in the ninth position on the IPL 2023 points table with 10 points from 13 matches and is already out of playoff contention. DC will next take on four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their final league game, on Saturday, May 20 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. On May 10, DC suffered a 27-run defeat against MS Dhoni and Co. in their first fixture at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Ahead of DC's clash against CSK, Watson told reporters that Shaw's failure has been the biggest letdown for DC this IPL season. The former CSK batter also said that the youngster is one of the most beautiful batters to watch and that he can take down the best bowling with his talent.

"One of the most disappointing parts for DC this season was Prithvi Shaw. He's one of the most beautiful batters to watch and take down the best bowling with the skills that he's got," Watson said as quoted by NDTV.

Shaw should be dominating international cricket: Watson

The 41-year-old went on to say that management had given him a lot of room to grow and that he has centralized and focused on the path he wants to go. He also believes that with Shaw's amazing potential, he should be dominating international cricket. Notably, DC gave the 23-year-old another chance in match no. 64, and he produced a surprise comeback with his maiden fifty of the season against Punjab Kings (PBKS), which DC won by 15 runs.

"And knowing that we gave him a big stretch to find his feet. We also knew he has been a little bit inconsistent as well in the past few years. But missing out on a few games, he really centralised and focused on what direction he wants to go. Because he's so incredibly skilled with the bat in hand he needs to bring every part of the game together. 

"He should be dominating international cricket. But sometimes it takes people some time to navigate how they can do that consistently. He certainly had an extra bit of fire in his belly the other day," he added.