Abhimanyu Easwaran’s much-anticipated Test debut got extended after the Bengal batter was once again overlooked as India handed Sai Sudharsan his maiden cap on Friday against England in the first Test at Headingly in Leeds. The Tamil Nadu batter was handed his maiden Test cap by veteran Cheteshwar Pujara.
The 29-year-old Bengal batter, who has been a prolific run-getter in domestic circuit, has bene travelling with the Indian team since 2022, but is yet to make his place in the starting XI.
The right-hander was in terrific form last season as he piled up runs in the Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy and the Ranji Trophy for Bengal, which included a double hundred and five centuries. Despite that, Easwaran‘s omission left the fans amazed.
“What has Abhimanyu Easwaran done wrong? So conveniently he gets overlooked for an inexperienced Sai Sudharsan. Think IPL form > domestic performance?” wrote one user on X.
“No disrespect to Sai Sudharshan, he is a good batsman but Abhimanyu Easwaran deserved a debut. How long will you keep him in the touring party and not hand him a Test cap? Abhimanyu is far more experienced,” another user posted.
Not only fans, even former cricketer Mohammad Kaif too wanted Easwaran in the playing XI. “Abhimanyu Easwaran deserves to be in the playing XI before Sai Sudarshan. Easwaran’s 27 first-class hundreds, almost 8k FC runs need to be respected. By dropping Sarfraz, someone who scored runs for India A in England, selectors made a mistake. They shouldn’t repeat it by keeping Easwaran out of Leeds Test,” wrote Kaif on X a day earlier.
Abhimanyu Easwaran’s records for India A
Having been made the captain of the India A side against England Lions, Easwaran had a good outing in both the unofficial Tests. While he scored a 68 in the first game while opening the batting, Easwaran scored 80 in the second game after being dropped to no.3 spot. On the other hand, Sudharsan‘s Test debut comes after his Orange Cap finish in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League.
India vs England 1st Test playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
