Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has opined that in-form Abhishek Sharma should be in the reckoning for the ODI World Cup 2027. The left-hander is yet to make his ODI debut but he can be considered, as he has been in top form in T20Is.

Meanwhile, India won the opening T20I against New Zealand by 48 runs at Nagpur on Wednesday. Sharma continued his rich form, scoring a blistering knock of 84 runs off just 35 balls with the help of five fours and eight sixes to help India post 238 runs on the board.

The pugnacious southpaw batter completed his fifty off just 22 balls, which is the quickest half-century for an Indian batter in T20Is against New Zealand. 

Irfan Pathan wrote on X, “Abhishek Sharma should be in the considerations for the 50-over World Cup. Guys like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad are ahead of him at the moment. But imagine him maximizing the powerplay in a similar fashion to T20s.”

On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma said he doesn’t have a lot of shots in his arsenal and he tries to stay two steps ahead of the opposition bowlers.

“I feel if you watch videos or if you watch your batting videos, you get an idea that where bowlers are planning to bowl to you or maybe where I’m going to play my shots. But it’s always about me backing my shots because I don’t have a lot of shots. It’s just a few shots I’m going to practise a lot about that, and I’ll just execute it,” said Abhishek after the game.

The second T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Raipur on Friday.