India, Sept. 6 -- Former India batter Suresh Raina believes Abhishek Sharma should look beyond T20 cricket and aim to play Test cricket. Abhishek's T20I competitor for the opening slot, teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, is being encouraged to play red-ball cricket. He is currently playing in the Duleep Trophy, where his team, East Zone, is contesting South Zone in the final at Chennai. However, Abhishek has confined himself only to white-ball cricket, largely T20s. He has not played any first-class game since February 2024. The Punjab player last played against Tamil Nadu at Salem.

To date, Abhishek has played 24 first-class games and has more than 1,000 runs at an average of 30.60. There is one century and five fifties against his...