Former Indian batter and commentator Suresh Raina has come out in support of Abhishek Sharma, stating that the dashing opening batter should play more red-ball cricket. Further, he also backed the teen batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to make it to Test cricket.
Sooryavanshi is currently playing in the Duleep Trophy Final for East Zone in Chennai. However, Abhishek has been largely playing only white-ball cricket, having not played any first-class games since February 2024.
“I feel Abhishek Sharma should play Test cricket. Vaibhav is very young. Does he want to play? What do his coaches think? These are questions. I feel he should play. Are the IPL owners and associations also thinking of this and putting Test cricket in players’ minds? Coaches also have a role here,” Raina said on Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel.
Further, Raina has advised the Indian selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, to back the veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the forthcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2027. Bhuvneshwar scalped 28 wickets in 16 games in the IPL 2026 season and continued his good form in the UPT20 League 2026 season, scalping 14 wickets in 11 games at an economy of 6.11 and bowling 119 dot balls.
“Bhuvi is a seasoned player and should be in the 2027 World Cup team,” Raina said on the sidelines of the UPT20 League.
“I think Shubman Gill will value the experience of both Bhuvi and Mohammed Shami, and with both Virat and Rohit on the side, this should also be part of their planning,” he added.
“Now it’s up to the selectors to decide what combination they want, whether they will take four specialist pacers or six seamers, including two all-rounders,” Raina stated.
