Former Indian opener WV Raman feels the selectors and the team’s think tank has been a tad unfair on Abhimanyu Easwaran as the right-hander is yet to make his Test despite performing consistently in the domestic circuit.
Easwaran was also part of the Indian squad for the tour of Australia but didn’t get his chances in the playing XI. While India is backing KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal as the openers on England tour, Karun Nair hasn’t been able to grab his opportunities in the first three Test matches.
Meanwhile, Earwaran has scored 7841 runs in 103 first-class matches at an impressive average of 48.70 and he has been knocking on the selector’s doors for sometime.
Speaking to RevSportz, WV Raman said, “Even for someone like Abhimanyu Easwaran, it is fair to give them a string of chances. One odd sporadic Test is not going to work for the individual or the team. People have to take a call on him. There is of course no point in carrying a cricketer tour after tour and not giving him opportunities. Judgmental calls are fine because that’s the nature of the beast in cricket. Coaches and selectors do make judgmental calls.”
“The thing is that there comes a time where it becomes a little bit tricky for everybody concerned because the player himself doesn’t know how he is looked at. The team management is also not sure what to do with one particular player. I am not saying Abhimanyu is not good. It’s better if the decision makers come to a conclusion and decide what exactly he is all about.”
On the other hand, Sai Sudharsan made his Test debut against England in the opening game of the series and returned with scores 0 and 30. However, the left-hander was dropped in the next two Test matches as India wanted a long tail.
“I think the team management should have made him (Sudharsan) wait. There is no point in playing a player for one Test and benching him. The same person who played in the second and third Tests could have been chosen for the first,” said WV Raman.
The fourth Test match between England and India will be played at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, from July 23 onwards.
