“His absence pains me” - Aakash Chopra opens up on Indian batter’s exclusion from Test squad for WI series

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra was pained not to see the Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran in the Test squad for the forthcoming two-match series against the West Indies, starting on October 2 in Ahmedabad.

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While Easwaran received his maiden call-up three years ago in the longest format of the game, he is yet to make his Test debut. Interestingly, 15 other Indian players have already made their Test debut during this phase. 

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra stated that selectors might have had a toss-up between Sai Sudharsan and Easwaran for the vacant No.3 slot. However, Chopra felt that the Ajit Agarkar-led committee might have gone ahead with Sudharsan, who displayed a few glimpses of good batting skills on the England tour.

"Abhimanyu Easwaran's absence pains me a little because you have kept him with the team many times, taken him around, but have not played a match. You are not making him play at all. Now he is not part of the team. There was no place for him in the playing XI," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"I think there would have been a toss-up in the mind between Sai Sudharsan and Abhimanyu Easwaran. I think Sai Sudharsan has given enough glimpses for you to persist with him, and this will be the series where he will have to leave his imprint and seal the deal. So Abhimanyu Easwaran misses out, which is really unfortunate," he added.

Furthermore, Chopra also shared his views on Karun Nair’s absence from the squad. Notably, Nair had an indifferent England tour, failing to live up to expectations. On the other hand, selectors have gone ahead with Devdutt Padikkal, who had an excellent first unofficial Test against Australia A.

"Karun Nair asked cricket for a second chance. Cricket gave him a second chance. We were repeatedly saying in the England series whether he would play the next match. He was doing enough for you to feel that he can do it, but he didn't do enough for you to say he cannot be dropped," he said.

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"He became relevant, but he didn't become undroppable. He wasn't indispensable. The selectors decided that they are done as they expected a bit more, and if they have to go to someone else, they would go towards youngsters, in which Devdutt Padikkal's name is there. Devdutt Padikkal missed out on the previous tour completely because he was injured," Chopra concluded.

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