Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has backed talented batter Prithvi Shaw and hoped that he gets a longer run as the opener of the Indian team going forward. Shaw recently made his comeback in the Indian squad for New Zealand T20Is but failed to get a game.

The team management preferred Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill as openers, and though Gill scored a century in the third and final T20I, Kishan failed to impress much.

Irfan Pathan wants the Indian team management to give Prithvi Shaw a longer run as the opener of the team, preferably a full series or two to prove himself.  Shaw has played 5 Tests, 6 ODIs, and 1 T20I for India with his last game coming against Sri Lanka in 2021.

"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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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,” Pathan said on Star Sports.  

The 38-year-old said the opening combination of Shaw and Shubman Gill will be a fantastic one for Team India.

"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,” said Pathan.