Yuvraj Singh has called for Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to be given chances in India’s ODI team. He spoke to PTI on the sidelines of the launch of Protocol 32 in Mumbai on Friday, 30 October 2026. He said that leaving players of their ability out of the 50-over side did not do justice to their talent, and he said he would love to see Abhishek Sharma in ODIs.
“I would love to see him (Abhishek) in the ODIs, to be honest. I have said this before: if we are not picking guys like Abhishek, Ishan Kishan, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in 50-over cricket, then somewhere down the line, we are not doing justice to our talent,” Yuvraj told PTI, in comments carried by ANI and reported by Sportskeeda and other outlets.
He also accepted that selection is hard at present. “I understand we have some great players and it is hard to make a spot for them. I think the way they are performing, they should be in the squad soon, hopefully,” he said.
Why Yuvraj Singh backs Abhishek Sharma for ODIs
Yuvraj has watched Abhishek Sharma grow from a young left-hander into India’s leading batter in T20 internationals. In 71 T20Is, Abhishek Sharma has scored 2,267 runs at an average of 33.33 and a strike rate of 196.61, with four hundreds and 14 half-centuries, according to figures reported by Sportskeeda. He has also played 69 List A matches, scoring 2,196 runs at a strike rate of 100.18, according to Crex. List A cricket is the domestic form closest to ODIs, and those numbers are part of the case for a chance in the 50-over side.
Abhishek Sharma’s recent form has added weight to that case. He scored 113 off 38 balls in a T20I against New Zealand, a knock noted in the Sports Now report on Yuvraj Singh’s comments. Yuvraj had earlier challenged Abhishek Sharma on social media to match his own famous feat of scoring a half-century in 12 balls. Abhishek Sharma answered that such an innings happens only on rare occasions, rather than as a plan a batter can repeat at will.
Yuvraj Singh on Ishan Kishan and Sooryavanshi
Ishan Kishan is in a different position from the other two names Yuvraj Singh mentioned. Kishan has already played 32 ODIs for India, scoring 1,107 runs at an average of 42.57 and a strike rate of 107.05, with two centuries and seven half-centuries. He also scored a double hundred in ODIs, a feat noted in reports on Yuvraj Singh’s comments.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, by contrast, is yet to play an ODI, and he is also yet to hold down a regular place in the T20I side. Reports on Yuvraj Singh’s comments noted that Sooryavanshi has often been on the bench, with the captain and coach preferring Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma in the T20I side. That makes his path harder: he needs chances in one format before a case for another format can grow. Yuvraj grouped him with the other two because he sees the same kind of talent, not because their records are the same.
The current ODI top order explains why the door is hard to open. Rohit Sharma and captain Shubman Gill look set to open the batting in the lead-up to the 2027 ODI World Cup, with Virat Kohli at number three, according to Sportskeeda’s report. Yuvraj Singh did not name a player to drop, and his comments were framed as a call for inclusion rather than a call to remove anyone.
What happens next for the ODI squad
India’s next ODI assignment gives the debate a clear date. After the fifth and final T20I in Hamilton on Sunday, 1 November 2026, India and New Zealand will play a five-match ODI series starting on 4 November 2026. Reports on Yuvraj Singh’s comments said India will play that series with most of their senior players available, apart from Jasprit Bumrah. That squad is already settled in the main, which means the young batters Yuvraj Singh named are unlikely to walk straight into it.
Yuvraj Singh is a former World Cup winner, and he has mentored Abhishek Sharma for years, so his praise for that player will be read in that light, but his inclusion of Kishan and Sooryavanshi widened the point beyond one player.
For now, the three batters remain where they were before the Mumbai event: Abhishek Sharma as a central figure in the T20I side, Kishan as a proven ODI player waiting for a longer run, and Sooryavanshi as a young player waiting for regular chances. Yuvraj wants that picture to change, and he wants it to change soon. The ODI series against New Zealand from 4 November 2026 will show whether the selectors agree.