"That's his game" - When Gautam Gambhir backed a player who went unsold at IPL 2025 auction as India's opener in T20Is

After Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's retirement from T20Is following the 2024 T20 World Cup, Team India have tried a number of opening combinations in the format. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, and Sanju Samson have batted in the top two.

In February 2023, former India batter and current head coach Gautam Gambhir backed Mumbai batter Prithvi Shaw as one of India's openers in T20Is in the post-Ro-Ko era. According to Gambhir, the right-handed batter deserved a longer rope in the Indian T20I team.

Speaking during an interaction on the Star Sports show 'Match Point', he shared some positive views on Shaw and opined:

"I feel you have got to give him an opportunity and you have to give him a longer rope, especially in the T20 format, because I see him opening the batting in 2024 if the selectors have started to look beyond Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma."

Acknowledging that Gill had done well in ODIs, Gambhir had added that Shaw was better suited to feature in the T20 version for India.

"Yes, Shubman Gill has done really well in the 50-over format, but if there is one player in this squad for whom T20 comes very naturally, it's Prithvi Shaw and that's his game," the 43-year-old had commented.

Apart from Shaw, Gambhir had also backed the inclusion of left-handed keeper-batter Ishan Kishan in Team India's top order in the T20I format.

"You have to persist with Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan, and those guys can actually go out there and play with the template that we have spoken about for such a long time," he had said.

Shaw has played only one T20I for India, which was Sri Lanka in Colombo in July 2021. He was dismissed for a golden duck on debut, caught behind off Dushmantha Chameera. Incidentally, Shaw hasn't played a match for India in any format since this game. As for Kishan, the 26-year-old last represented India in a T20I against Australia in November 2023.

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What is Prithvi Shaw's record in T20 cricket?

While Shaw has played only one T20I for India, in his overall T20 career, he has featured in 117 matches and has scored 2,902 runs at an average of 25.01 and a strike rate of 151.54, with one hundred and 20 fifties.

In the IPL, he has 1,892 runs in 79 matches for Delhi Capitals (DC), averaging 23.94 at a strike rate of 147.46, with 14 fifties. Released by DC, he went unsold at the IPL 2025 auction.