Former Indian batter Varun Aaron has urged India’s think tank to include Abhimanyu Easwaran in the playing XI in the two-match Test series against the West Indies. Easwaran was part of the squad for the five-match Test series against Australia but could not get a chance in the final XI.
After Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s retirement, Easwaran was once again included in India’s Test squad for the England tour but batters like Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair were preferred ahead of him.
Easwaran has an impressive first-class record but he hasn’t received his chances despite traveling with the team on the Australian and England tour.
Easwaran has scored 7885 runs in 104 first-class matches at an impressive average of 48.67 and he has been knocking on the Indian doors for some time.
Varun Aaron said on ESPN Cricinfo, “Abhimanyu Easwaran has been sitting on the sidelines for an eternity. He has just been drooling at the opportunity of getting a game and that has never happened. I feel finally this is going to be the series where he gets a game. I don’t know in what capacity or which number but I think India have to play him and give him a chance at some stage.”
Aaron reckons Sai Sudharsan will bat at one drop and it would be interesting to note Easwaran’s position if he gets a chance.
“Sai Sudharsan is definitely going to bat at 3. So maybe he (Easwaran) is going to have to change position. This top order (top 4) is never going to change because they had such a good series in England. Then Abhimanyu Easwaran is always going to be sitting out. So it could be one of those cases where you have a chat with a genuine opener and ask him if you would like to have a go at the middle order.”
On the other hand, the former lanky pacer said he doesn’t see Karun Nair get his chance in the top four in the next two Test series.
“If you see the way they used Karun Nair, he was at 3 then at 5 so there was lot of moving around. So you never know. But how much are you going to keep benching somebody? How many series? The top four looks very solid so I don’t see him getting a look in in the top four atleast for the next two series,” said Aaron (via the aforementioned source).
The opening Test match between India and West Indies will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, from October 2 onwards.
