'My son looks depressed...': Father of ignored India star blasts team management, questions his absence from playing XI in England Tests

India batter Abhimanyu Easwaran wasn't given a place in the playing XI for either of the five Tests against England despite him being present in the squad. The 29-year-old is yet to make his Test debut for the Men in Blue even though he has been getting call-ups to the squad since 2021.

Easwaran has impressed a lot in first-class cricket, scoring 7841 runs in 103 matches including 27 centuries. The batter has also been an integral part of the Bengal squad at the domestic circuit for many years now. However, despite all his accomplishments, he is yet to make his debut for India in any format.

Easwaran's father, Ranganathan, has had enough of his son getting ignored by the team management and not being given any chance in the playing XI. After Easwaran was left out of the team for the fifth and final Test of the series against England, his father questioned why Karun Nair got to play over his son.

Ranganathan wasn't happy with Nair getting selected over his son

“I’m not keeping a count of the number of days that Abhimanyu has been waiting for his Test debut. I am counting the years; it has been three years now. What is the job of a player? It is to score runs," Ranganathan told TimesofIndia.com

“He has done that. People said he didn’t perform in two India A matches during the last tour of Australia and didn’t get into the team, which is fair enough. But Karun Nair wasn’t in the team during the period when Abhimanyu performed before the BGT," he added.

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Ranganathan further stated that his son may very well be depressed after getting no chances in the playing XI despite getting picked in the squad for multiple series. He added that a player's performance in the IPL shouldn't be counted towards his selection in red-ball cricket.

“My son looks a little depressed, but that is bound to happen. Some players jump the gun based on IPL performances, which earn them a spot in the Test team. IPL performances should not be counted while selecting the team for the longest format. Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy should be the basis for Test selection," Ranganathan stated.

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Easwaran played his last competitive match in June where he featured for India A in the two-match Test series against the England Lions. Despite scoring two half-centuries there, both Nair and Sai Sudharsan were preferred over the Bengal batter for the five-match series against England and were given multiple chances in the playing XI.