Abhimanyu Easwaran: From reserve Test opener to forgotten man

A great sense of expectation would have quickly turned into despair for Abhimanyu Easwaran the moment he saw his name missing from India’s elongated touring party selected for the three-Test series in South Africa earlier in December. The Bengal right-hand batter was part of the Test squad as reserve opener for both the home and […]
 
?width=963&height=541&resizemode=4
Abhimanyu Easwaran: From reserve Test opener to forgotten man

A great sense of expectation would have quickly turned into despair for Abhimanyu Easwaran the moment he saw his name missing from India’s elongated touring party selected for the three-Test series in South Africa earlier in December.

The Bengal right-hand batter was part of the Test squad as reserve opener for both the home and away series against England this year. But he wasn’t retained for the home series against New Zealand in November and then got left out of the Gandhi-Mandela Trophy despite doing well in the recent ‘A’ series in South Africa.

Abhimanyu Easwaran was India A’s second highest run-getter with 205 runs at 41.00. His tally, which was only behind the in-form Hanuma Vihari, featured a solid hundred in the first unofficial Test played in Bloemfontein. Easwaran’s returns dipped slightly thereafter. But it was felt he would be given the nod as the back-up opener once the injuries of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill ruled them out.

However, the 26-year-old batter lost out to Priyank Panchal in the race to bag the back-up opener’s slot on the tour. Panchal is another of the proven domestic performers but he scored nearly 100 runs less than Easwaran during the ‘A’ tour.

Abhimanyu Easwaran: From reserve Test opener to forgotten man

Abhimanyu Easwaran was the only Indian centurion in the ‘A’ series in South Africa. (pic courtesy: BCCI/twitter)

Motivated by South Africa snub, Abhimanyu Easwaran eyeing a big Ranji season

In such circumstances, it’s very easy to lose hope and start doubting your abilities. But Abhimanyu Easwaran is not one of those. While obviously disappointed by the omission, the player is looking to use it as a motivation heading into the upcoming edition of the Ranji Trophy and finally break open the door.

Abhimanyu Easwaran: From reserve Test opener to forgotten man

“Expectation is always there,” Easwaran told Sportskeeda. “Whenever a team comes up, you always look for your name. But then, if it’s not there, you will always want to work harder and score more runs. Selection is not in your hands, as a player. That’s something which the selectors or the management has to think about.”

“My job is to just keep improving and giving my best in every single game and trying to win it for my team. My focus is on that only, and I think it makes things simpler if you just focus on your job. So that’s what I have been trying to do for a while now, and I think that’s been helping me,” he added.

Easwaran has had a rapid rise in the Indian domestic scene. Turned 26 in September, the batter averages an impressive 43.45 in first-class cricket with 14 hundreds, 19 half-centuries for his 4,606 runs from 66 matches. He has been in the opener’s queue for a while now, having been around the ‘A’ set-up and been on multiple tours with the side.

“Batting and scoring runs is something which gives me most joy and then winning a game for my team. So I just focus on being happy that way, because I know selection is something I can’t control and it will happen when it has to. So if I just try and enjoy what I do the best and focus on that, I think other things will take care of themselves. If it has to happen, it will,” he said.

When he looks back at the ‘A tour, while Abhimanyu Easwaran does feel a sense of satisfaction for being the only Indian to make a century on the trip, he knows deep down that he also missed out in the next two games where he got starts but failed to make it big.

“I was batting really well there and I could have made more runs, I missed out on a couple of innings where I could have gone big. That is something I am thinking about and not really thinking about selection. I just want to make sure whenever I get a start, make it big no matter what conditions I am batting in,” the cricketer concluded.

Easwaran will now be hoping for another fruitful Ranji Trophy season for Bengal, which would keep him in line for the long-awaited India debut.

Bengal are part of Elite Group B in the tournament and will be facing Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tripura and Vidarbha for a place in the knock-outs. Bengal kick-off their campaign with a first-round fixture against Tripura from January 13.