Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has backed Prithvi Shaw as he believed the youngster needs to be given a chance as India’s opener, and also he needs to be given a long run. Shaw was included in India’s squad for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand but did not get a game.

While speaking to Star Sports, Pathan said, “Going forward, I definitely believe so. Even in the last game when the series decider was there, a lot of people were asking for Prithvi Shaw to be played. That’s when I said that if you are playing Prithvi Shaw, you need to give him a long run.”

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He said that Prithvi Shaw needs to be given atleast a full series to showcase his skill, instead of just giving him one match to prove as well. He also believe that the opening combination of Shaw and Shubman Gill will be a fantastic one for Team India as well.

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“What is long run? Give him a full series. You can’t give him just one match, especially a series decider. The only thing they will have to keep in mind is that Ishan Kishan was playing not only as an opening batter, he was playing as a wicketkeeper-batter as well. The team combination might change a bit when Prithvi Shaw plays and Ishan Kishan goes out but I think whenever Prithvi Shaw gets a chance, it will be a fantastic one because on one side you will get a stable opener, who is Shubman Gill. Then you will get a blockbuster batter in Prithvi Shaw whose strike rate is pretty high. He goes from the word go. So I am really excited for Prithvi to get a long run. I hope he will get it in the future,” Irfan Pathan concluded.