Delhi Capitals assistant coach Pravin Amre said that Prithvi Shaw's exclusion from the last few games was justified seeing the way Abishek Porel grabbed his chances. Shaw, who played eight games, scored 198 runs at an average of 24.75 and a strike rate of 163.63, and struck one half-century.
"He [Shaw] was our retained played, and as you see, last four [of five] games he was also on the bench. But that's the IPL," Amre said after DC's 19-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in their last league game of the season. "If you are not in form, you can't [keep your place]. Ultimately, the pressure for the team is so much that every game is important and we have to win.
"And we had done that. Without playing him, we won the games. And whoever got the opportunity... I think Abishek grabbed the opportunities with both hands."
Shaw didn't play the first two games of the season, but scored a quick 43 off 27 balls against Chennai Super Kings in his first outing. He also had a 40-ball 66 against Mumbai Indians but his form tapered off after that. Porel, on the other hand, smashed 327 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 159.51. On Tuesday, the left-hander blazed 58 off 33 balls, helping DC score 73 in the powerplay, as he stitched a 92-run stand with Shai Hope for the second wicket.
"What an innings [Porel] played today," Amre said. "We saw Jake [Fraser-McGurk] getting out in the first over and even then we managed to get 73 runs in the powerplay. I think that's what was so critical and the credit goes to Shai Hope and Porel for getting that 92-run partnership today."
Fraser-McGurk holed out at long-on off the second legal delivery of the match, but Porel gave DC the momentum. He scored 19 of the 21 runs that came in the third over and then smashed two sixes and a four in the sixth, and brought up his half-century, off 21 balls, soon after.
In the three matches Porel played as an opener, he scored 159 runs at a strike rate of 165.62. Both his half-centuries also came at the top of the order.