The 25-year-old opener had no takers in the IPL auction and has also been struggling in domestic cricket.

The 25-year-old opener had no takers in the IPL auction and has also been struggling in domestic cricket.

The 25-year-old opener had no takers in the IPL auction and has also been struggling in domestic cricket.

Out-of-favour batter Prithvi Shaw has found the backing of veteran cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Shane Watson. They are confident Shaw can bounce back to reckoning after his recent IPL snub.

Pietersen took to social media to express his support for the 25-year-old opener, who went unsold in the IPL Mega Auction and was also excluded from Mumbai's Ranji Trophy squad due to fitness and disciplinary issues.

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"Some of the greatest sports stories are comeback stories," Pietrsen posted on X, also called Twitter.

"If Prithvi Shaw has decent people around him who care about his long-term success, they’d sit him down, tell him to get off social media & train his absolute backside off in getting super fit. It’ll get him back into the correct path where past success can return," said the Englishman.

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Former Australian all-rounder Watson said he 'completely agrees' with Pietersen. "Prithvi is such a precocious talent and these are all that is required for him to turn things around and be one of Indian cricket’s biggest heroes," Watson posted.

Shaw had no takers in the IPL auction even after he reduced his base price to Rs 75 lakh. He returned to the Mumbai squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but has yet to score big runs. In five innings, Shaw's highest score was 40 against Nagaland, while he was dismissed for a duck twice. As a teenager, Shaw drew comparisons to the great Sachin Tendulkar, and captained India U-19 to a World Cup title.