Indian batsman Prithvi Shaw, who made a return to competitive cricket with a 39-ball 63 for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after his ban for consuming a ‘prohibited substance’ ended said that it was hard for him to digest things in the days immediately after his ban.
During the ban, Shaw trained at the NCA under the watchful eyes of Rahul Dravid told Mid-Day, “I never thought something like this would happen. I was obviously upset. For the first 20-25 days after I was banned, I was not able to make any sense of things.
“After that, I stabilised and kept myself mentally strong. Each day was hard. I was desperate to play a game. I was excited about today’s game and what better than a victory. I’ll keep scoring runs; this is my job.”
“This period (of suspension) has been a big learning experience for me,” he continued. “Obviously, I committed a mistake. I had no idea what I was consuming. In that period, I was alone and was trying to stay away from people and their advice. I kept telling myself that I can get out of this mess and be mentally strong.
“I got a lot of love and support from a lot of people. There obviously was a period where I was not feeling too well. But then, as the day of my return drew closer, I started to get my act together. If I had gone into my shell at that point of time, I would have felt pressure during the game. I committed a small mistake, now all that is in the past.”
