Abhimanyu Easwaran: Could Bengal veteran be back-up opener for Border-Gavaskar Trophy

West Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran has got off to a fine start in the 2024-25 domestic season, raising hopes of a possible back-up opener spot with Indian team during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting from November this year back in home. After a couple of poor outings in the Duleep Trophy, Easwaran has bounced back with fine scores of 157*, 116, 19 and 191.

In the Duleep Trophy, he was the second-highest run-scorer with 309 runs at an average of 77.25, with two centuries. During the Irani Cup, playing for the Rest of India side, he scored 191 in 292 balls, with 16 fours and a six.

In his last Ranji Trophy appearance against Bihar back in February, Abhimanyu scored an unbeaten double ton. Since the 2023-start, the veteran has scored 1,760 runs at an average of 62.9 and since the start of this calendar year, he has made 921 runs at an average of 76.80, as per Wisden.

Easwaran's career in the first-class cricket has spanned 11 years now. In 98 matches, he has scored 7,506 runs at an average of 49.38, with 26 centuries and 29 fifties in 167 innings. His best score is 233. In an era in which the Indian domestic scene has produced some really fine pacers, his batting average is really good.

Despite his fine statistics, Easwaran remains an uncapped player still. Since his first-class debut in 2013, there have been 13 players who have opened for India in Tests, with seven of them playing 10 or more innings. Two of these players, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul have moved down the order in recent while Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan have retired. Mayank Agarwal is still an active force in the domestic scene while other two are skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal, which is the current opening pair for India.

On the face of it, Easwaran looks to have been disregarded for a good while. But this might have not been the case. It would be inaccurate to say that the Indian selectors have ignored or are not aware of the batter's performance. He was picked for the India 'A' side in July 2018 for the first time ever and has represented this second-tier of Indian team 26 times, averaging 42.

Easwaran was also a part of the team which played England Lions in January this year, in which he had a poor run of scores with 4, 0, 58, 0, 22. During the 'A' tour of South Africa, he scored 18 runs in the solitary inning he played.

Easwaran has faced peaks and troughs throughout his career, which has made the competition for an Indian cap a struggle for him. Towards the end of 2022 for instance, he had fine run of scores for India 'A' and Bengal, making 141, 157, 170, 165, 82. But in 2019-20, he once went 21 innings with just one fifty.

His highs were rewarded with Indian call-ups. In May 2021, he was one of India's stand-by players during England tour in the Test leg. In December 2022, he was called up as a cover for an injured Rohit Sharma during the second Test. During the match, team management stuck with KL Rahul and Gill as openers.

In December last year, Easwaran also made it as a back-up opener in the Indian squad for the tour to South Africa, though he did not feature in both Tests. Over the last two years, Easwaran has been extremely consistent in first-class cricket. In 35 innings, he has made 2,228 runs at an average of 71.90, with six fifties and 10 centuries and his best score being 200*.

On the other hand, Ruturaj Gaikwad, one of his competitors for the slot of a back-up opener, has averaged just 47 in 16 innings, scoring 705 runs with five fifties and a century. His best score is 195. During this season, he has constantly outperformed Gaikwad and has made a case for himself as a backup opener for BGT, starting from November 22 with first Test at Perth. (ANI)