Abhimanyu Easwaran is one of the unlucky players in the Indian squad for the England tour who did not get a chance to play a single match. Despite consistently scoring runs in domestic cricket and managing to secure a place in the Indian squad, the coach and captain never include him in the playing XI. Abhimanyu was first selected for the Indian team during the 2022 tour of Bangladesh.
Since then, around 15–16 players have made their debuts for India, and even players like Karun Nair, who returned to the team after eight years, have been given opportunities in the playing XI. Yet, Abhimanyu continues to warm the bench. Frustrated by this, his father Ranganathan Easwaran has criticised the selection criteria of Team India.
Even after Karun Nair failed in the first three Test matches, he was given another opportunity in the fifth Test, while Abhimanyu was ignored yet again. This has led Abhimanyu’s father to ask sharp questions to captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir.
Seeing his son not getting a fair chance, Ranganathan raised questions about the management for keeping him on the bench for such a long time, despite his brilliant performances in domestic cricket.
Speaking to the Times of India, Ranganathan Easwaran said, “I am not counting the days for Abhimanyu’s Test debut anymore. I am counting the years—it has been three years now. What is a player’s job? To score runs. He has done that. People said that he did not perform well in two India A matches during the last Australia tour, and that’s why he could not make it to the team, which is fine. But before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, when Abhimanyu was performing well, Karun Nair was not even in the picture. Karun was not selected for the Duleep Trophy or Irani Trophy. If you look at the period from last year to this year, Abhimanyu has scored nearly 864 runs.”
He also pointed out how some players come into the spotlight through their IPL performances and added that IPL performances should not be considered when selecting a Test squad.
He further said, “So how do you compare? I do not understand. They gave Karun Nair a chance. Fine, he has scored more than 800 runs. The selectors have shown faith in him. My son looks a bit dejected, and naturally so. Some players grab the spotlight because of their IPL performances, which helps them get into the Test squad. IPL performances should not be a basis for Test team selection. Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy should be the criteria for Test selection.”