‘No. 3 looks fragile': Ganguly backs Abhimanyu Easwaran for Test debut after persistent snub and father's rant on non-selection
Easwaran's first call-up into the Test side came three years ago in Bangladesh in December 2022, when he replaced then-captain Rohit Sharma in the squad following his injury. The 29-year-old was also part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour to Australia in the 2024-25 season, but with Rohit, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal jostling for space in the top-order, Easwaran remained on the fringes.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has backed his Bengal statemate to make a breakthrough soon enough as India's No. 3 options Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair did not quite seal the spot during the England tour. Speaking at an event in Kolkata, Ganguly felt that the 29-year-old Easwaran could present his case at number three soon enough
'He has age on his side. I still believe he will get his chance,' said Ganguly, as quoted by the Times of India.
'I feel batters like Yashasvi (Jaiswal), KL Rahul, (Shubman) Gill, (Rishabh) Pant, (Ravindra) Jadeja have all got runs. It's only the No. 3 slot that looked a bit fragile. Maybe Easwaran will be tried out there,' he added.
Easwaran's father, Ranganathan, recently gave an explosive interview where he lamented that the team management had assured him of a long run in whites despite being remaining on the bench for nearly four years.
'Gautam Gambhir, when he spoke to my son, he assured him see you you're doing the right kind of things you'll get your turn you'll get a long run. 'I'm not the one who will push you out after one or two matches. I'll give you a long rope.' That's what my son communicated to me. The entire coaching team assured him that he'll get his due, he'll get his long run. That's the best I can say. My son is waiting for 4 years, He's put in 23 years of hard work,' Ranganathan said in an interview on Vickey Lalwani's YouTube channel.
'He should have played one down. There is no question. There are not second thoughts about it. No ill feelings for Sai Sudharsan. Where does he fit in? 0, 30, 61, 0 (Sai Sudharsan's score in Leeds and Manchester Tests). They could have tried Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu has played about 30% of his matches at Eden Gardens, which a green track and he's got experience of playing on green tracks and the record suggest Abhimanyu is a player who holds the innings for a long time. Records speak,' Abhimanyu Easwaran's father said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Despite fine England tour, Ravindra Jadeja's ODI time running out
A lull in India's cricketing calendar allows space and time for various stories to come out. With the country still delusional over the team's thrilling six-run victory at The Oval to square the series against England 2-2, media reports emerged that Rohit Sharma and , two batting stalwarts and players, who had already bid adieu to Tests and T20Is, could be playing in their last 50-over series Down Under in Oct. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! For fans of the two players, who were expected to bow out only after the 50-over World Cup in Oct-Nov 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, it came as a shock. The fan clubs of the two players, always at war on social media, were united in grief after reading reports of their probable exit from ODIs as they directed their collective ire at chief selector Ajit Agarkar and coach Gautam Gambhir. While plenty was discussed about the white-ball futures of both Rohit and Virat and how unfair it was to make the two stalwarts go through the grind of playing Vijay Hazare Trophy and India A games to prove themselves, another cricketer might be skating on thin ice when it comes to his white-ball future. , the Saurashtra stalwart, might have had his best series as a batter in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with 516 runs and six half-centuries, but his strike rate in ODIs has been a subject of debate as it has not been at par with the pace at which runs are scored in the format lately. In 204 ODIs, his 2,806 runs have been scored at a strike rate of 85.44. The fact that he has batted at No.7 or lower, a position where big-hitters walk in and target the boundaries, puts additional scrutiny on those numbers. In fact, in the 11 games that he has batted in at No.6, his average of 30 and strike rate of 81.44 also does not meet modern requirements. Jadeja's last outing at that number was his laborious 22-ball 9 in the 2023 World Cup final at Ahmedabad, where he was strangely sent in ahead of Surya Kumar Yadav, curiously to inject some pace in the innings that had got stuck as KL Rahul and Virat erred on the side of caution while rebuilding the innings after India lost three wickets for 81 runs. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Jadeja has batted at No.7 98 times in 148 matches and has scored 2,000 runs at 83.41. In 2023, that strike rate had dropped to 79.16. With the death overs of modern ODI batting requiring explosive skills, India would be justified in looking at someone with a wider range of strokes and greater power. Poll Who do you think is more crucial for India's ODI success moving forward? Ravindra Jadeja Axar Patel Washington Sundar In Axar Patel, they probably have an ideal like-for-like replacement. The lanky Gujarat southpaw batted at No.5 in the 2024 T20 World Cup final against South Africa at Barbados, and, despite India stuttering at 34 for 3, belted a momentum-changing 31-ball 47 that allowed Kohli the freedom to drop anchor and bat deep. Axar was a floater in the batting order during the victorious campaign and had been used tactically, especially as a hitter against spin on the sluggish pitches in the Caribbean. On spin-friendly surfaces in the sub-continent, West Indies and Dubai, he has been used to break the monotony of right-handers following each other. In the Champions Trophy in the UAE, his 30-ball 27 in the semifinal against Australia and his 29, which included the tactical takedown of Mitchell Santner of New Zealand in the final, made the equation more comfortable for the lower order. Axar's average of 22.37 may not appear earth-shattering, but the fact that he has scored those runs at 91.47 at crucial times makes him an attractive package in ODIs. In Indian victories, he has scored his runs at 97.97. Because his batting has come along wonderfully, Axar's bowling is seldom discussed. Finger spinners, thanks to modern batting-friendly field restrictions and rules, have been reduced to cannon fodder. However, his fastish round-arm finger spin has cost India only 4.49 runs per over. He may not have had a five-wicket haul to show for his efforts yet in the 63 times he has bowled in ODIs, but that could be because he has completed his quota of 10 overs just 29 times in his career. His average (32.94) and strike rate (43.9) also make him a useful option. Jadeja, who has bowled in 196 innings in the 204 times he has played for India in the blue jersey, has picked up 231 scalps at 35.41 and an economy rate of 4.85. His strike rate of 43.7 is better, though, than Axar's. What goes in favour of Axar is the fact that he often bowls in the powerplay in T20s and in the IPL and wouldn't be averse to doing it in the ODIs too. The speed at which he bowls and the height at which the balls comes down makes charging at him difficult for batters. Both Jadeja and Axar are assets in the field. But India now also have another talented spin-bowling all-rounder in the form of , who can strike it big in the end overs and is technically adept to bat in the top-6. The fact that he is still only 25, is a safe fielder and an excellent powerplay bowler, makes him an attractive option for captains and coaches to lend balance to the team and field a long batting order. Both Rohit and Virat probably lost the right to go to England because of a sustained poor run in Tests. In ODIs, though, their numbers have been excellent. It is only their age and the fact they would be 40 and 39 respectively when the 2027 ODI World Cup comes around that has made the management wary about picking them beyond Australia. Jadeja too would be close to 39 when the World Cup is staged in 2027.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'Itni buri tarah maarenge na woh': Basit Ali hopes India refuse to play Pakistan in Asia Cup
Pakistan cricket team during the second ODI against West Indies. (ANI) Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali, among others, have raised concern about the team's chances in the Asia Cup after a harrowing defeat against West Indies in the third ODI. West Indies came from 0-1 down in the series to clinch it 2-1, ending a 34-year drought over the 1992 World Cup winners . In the third match, played in Tarouba, Pakistan managed only 92 runs while chasing a target of 295. The 202-run loss was Pakistan's fourth biggest loss in their ODI history . "I pray India refuse to play against Pakistan in the Asia Cup , just like how they did at the World Championships of Legends . Itni buri tarah maarenge na vo, ki aapki soch hai," Basit Ali said on The Game Plan YouTube channel. Basit Ali further addressed the possibility of losing to Afghanistan, stating: "If we lose to Afghanistan, no one would care much in this country. But everyone goes mad the moment you lose to India." The Pakistani batting order crumbled from the start of their chase, with three top-order wickets falling within the first three overs. Openers Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique, along with captain Mohammad Rizwan, were dismissed without scoring any runs. Star batter Babar Azam could only contribute 9 runs, while Salman Agha managed 30 runs before his dismissal. The entire innings concluded in just 29.2 overs, with West Indies bowler Jayden Seales delivering an exceptional performance, taking 6 wickets for 18 runs. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Learn More - How Donating Sperm May Boost Your Income SpellRock Undo The loss against West Indies came despite Pakistan's earlier success in the T20I series against the same opposition, which they won 2-1 under Salman Agha's leadership. The upcoming Asia Cup, scheduled to take place in the UAE, will be played in the T20 format, serving as preparation for next year's T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Pakistan's T20 squad composition may differ from their ODI team, as neither Babar Azam nor Mohammad Rizwan participated in the successful T20I series against West Indies, a pattern that might continue in the Asia Cup. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
'Shouldn't have had a place': Irfan Pathan's brutal take on Rohit Sharma playing Test cricket in 2024
Rohit Sharma looks on during an India nets session at Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2025 (Photo by) Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has claimed that Rohit Sharma might have found it difficult to retain his place in the Test team during the latter half of 2024 had he not been the captain. Pathan recalled Rohit's poor run during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia earlier that year. The opener averaged just 6.20 across three matches before opting out of the final Test in Sydney. 'Rohit Sharma is an amazing player in white-ball cricket, but his average in Test cricket that year was 6, so we said that if he was not the captain, he would not have had a place in the team, and this is true,' Pathan said, speaking in a Lallantop video. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! At the time, Rohit addressed the decision in an interview with Pathan and Jatin Sapru during the match on January 5. 'This is what I say. Stand down. I will say a few words, fifty words will be made out of it. So basically, runs are not coming from my bat, I am not in form, it is an important match, we need players in form, the boys in our batting are not in form, so you cannot carry too many out-of-form players in the team,' Rohit had explained. 'It was difficult for me to take this decision but if everything is put in front of us, then this decision was sensible, and I will not think too much ahead. What the team needed at this time, this was the only thought, and there was no other thought apart from that,' he added. Pathan also addressed perceptions that he and others had been overly supportive of Rohit. 'People say that we supported Rohit Sharma more than necessary. Of course, when someone comes to interview on your broadcasting channel, you will not misbehave with them, right? You have invited him, so you will behave politely… we had to show that, because he was our guest,' Pathan said. Poll Do you think Rohit Sharma would have retained his place in the Test team if he wasn't captain? Yes, definitely No, he would have been dropped However, he maintained his stance on Rohit's place in the side. 'We had said that he should keep fighting, but that said, he should not have had a place in the playing XI. If he was not the captain of the team, he would have been dropped.' Rohit later rediscovered his touch in white-ball cricket, guiding India to the Champions Trophy title in March 2025, before retiring from Test cricket on May 7. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
