Not Sai Sudharsan, Ex-India coach wants this ignored star to be awarded with an opportunity in the playing XI

With the first Test of the five-match series between India and England beckoning, a lot of chatter has been going around regarding the Men in Blue's batting order. Thgough Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan look to be the favourites to replace Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the playing XI, former India batting coach, WV Raman believes that Abhimanyu Easwaran should be given a chance instead.

Easwaran has been fabulous for Bengal in domestic cricket

Raman pointed out that Easwaran has got a lot of runs at the domestic circuit and also questioned the Indian team management's decision of not awarding the batter with his Test debut.

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"No, let's not forget that Easwaran has been getting runs much higher than him over a long period of time. We have been having Easwaran as a part of the squad. We are not playing him. And that is again creating a lot of dilemma when the next selection comes up. We will have to try and reward him fully in the sense that there is no point picking him in the squad. We don't have, let's say, a player who has opened in the past, who is willing to open," Raman told The Times of India.

"There is a vacant slot at the top of the order. And here you have on the other hand, you have a player who has been opening right through his life, who has got runs every season almost. And then you pick him in the squad. When there is an opening slot which is vacant, you don't use him. I think we need to first answer that particular bit. Again, we have got somebody who is making a comeback after a long period of time. And then he is not a spring onion now. He is into his 30s. He is experienced. He is also in the best of form," he added.

It will be interesting to see if the 29-year-old is finally handed his Test debut in the first match of the England series or if the team management instead opts for the younger option in Sudharsan. Notably, Easwaran has a fantastic record in first-class cricket, scoring 7841 runs in 103 matches for Bengal.

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Easwaran has scored a total of 31 half-centuries and 27 centuries in first-class cricket, maintaining a blistering average of 48.70. He was a part of India A's playing XI during the recent two-match Test assignment against the England Lions. He gave a decent performance with the bat in the series, playing knocks of 68 and 80 in the first and second match respectively.