The Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting backed talented batsman Prithvi Shaw, who has lost his place in the Indian team and was involved in a minor brawl with fans recently, to do well this season. “I think we are going to see the real Prithvi Shaw this season,” Ponting said. “He's in a better physical shape than I've ever seen him before. I spoke to him the other day about his attitude, the way he's working, and how things are going. I honestly feel that this is going to be his biggest season in the IPL. He just has that different look in his eye this year. You can see, he's hungrier than ever,” Ponting said. "It just seems to me that this season, something has really clicked with Prithvi. I actually said to him at the end of the training two days ago, 'This game, if you don't pay full attention to it, it'll take away from you. But if you put in the hard yards, it will give back to you all the time.' That's why I feel that this could be a really big year for him.” The former Australian captain's career had also initially got sidetracked because of off-field issues, including being punched in a bar room. He also received a three-match ban. “It is well documented that I had some issues early on,” Ponting said. “It's all about just being true to yourself and wanting to be the best that you can be. The one thing that I always say to our players is that I don't like laziness and guys not utilizing the talent that they've got. That's my job as a coach. Looking back at my career. there wasn't as much spotlight on me back then as some of the Indian guys just through the sheer amount of numbers, media and everything,” he added. “It's about letting the players understand how big what they are actually doing is in public size. As a player sometimes you don't see the bigger picture of it than just you playing cricket. It's how everyone else perceives you in the real world. The IPL, for all these youngsters, is not the real world.” Ponting also said that it was important for players to have their personal life in order as that would help them be disciplined and focussed when it came to their cricket. "The better person you are, it is easy to become a better player. If you haven't got your personal life in order, it is really difficult to become a disciplined performer on the field."
