‘I was really scared for my life’ – Prithvi Shaw opens up on fight with influencer Sapna Gill
After scoring a Test century on his international debut in 2018, Prithvi Shaw was expected to improve. However, he has only played five Tests, six ODIs, and one T20I so far. Now it has been more than two years since his previous played for India. While some technical issues have slowed Shaw’s growth, he has also been embroiled in controversies, which must have had an impact on his mental health. One such scandal erupted when social media personality Sapna Gill accused him of physical assault and molestation during an uncomfortable incident at a Mumbai pub last year.
Prithvi Shaw recently opened out about the incident, noting that he and his buddies were sitting next to Gill’s table at the Barrel Club in Mumbai. The right-handed batter stated that the latter’s group requested selfies, which he provided. He went on to allege that a few moments later, a couple began filming a video without his consent. At this point, the management requested that Gill and his friends leave. However, when Shaw and his buddies exited the bar, they noticed a young woman holding a baseball bat.
“I was at Barrel Club inside the Sahara Star Hotel in Mumbai with 7-8 friends. 4-5 people sitting on the adjoining table came up to me for selfies, and I obliged. But they came back again because the pictures they took came out to be blurred, so I took the selfie again. Then came a couple who put their arms around my shoulder and started making a video without asking me,” Shaw said about the incident on News24. “The manager then asked them to leave the club. Then I also exited after some time from the hotel’s front gate. But the girl (Sapna Gill) was standing outside with a baseball bat. They were not looking like normal human beings, the way they all were waiting for me outside. They were on something else,” he stated.
Terrified during the encounter and believed that the group would kill me
Shaw stated that his BMW car was attacked with baseball bats. He said that he got out of the car to take the Baseball bat from Gill’s hand to prevent her from causing further harm, which was captured in a video that quickly went viral on social media.
“They attacked my car with a baseball bat while I was slowing down at a CISF check post. They started attacking the windshield and hit it 3-4 times, I was scared of the glass breaking. Then I had to get out of the car with the intention of taking the baseball bat out of her hands otherwise she would have completely ruined my car. So, I snatched the baseball bat from her, and that video got viral after she posted it. Only that part was posted,” Shaw continued.
Shaw also stated that he was terrified during the encounter and believed that the group would kill him. Even though his reputation was questioned in the public eye, he went on with the legal process.
“I was really scared for my life, I thought they would kill me. For the first time in my life, I was so scared. Then we filed the complaint, even though I knew my name would be dragged into it. But I knew that we did not do anything wrong, so we filed the complaint,” Shaw continued to explain his apprehensions.
