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India’s Test squad announced for the Test series against West Indies featured several changes. Proven performer in domestic cricket, opener Abhimanyu Easwaran was dropped from the squad. In the last three years, Easwaran has lived in shadows, waiting for his Test debut cap but it hasn’t come yet. Many have come and left but Easwaran is still waiting for his chance to put his skill to use in Test cricket. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar was asked why Easwaran did not retain his place. He said that there is no need for a back-up opener in a home Test series and they wanted another spin option in Axar Patel. He went on to say that there is nothing more to the story.
“Normally, when you travel, you carry 16 or 17. If there is some injury or something goes wrong, you can always fly a guy out and play him. Here, you get an extra spinning all-rounder Axar Patel. He wasn’t part of the squad to England, and you can only pick 15 here. So, there’s nothing to his story. KL Rahul and Jaiswal haven’t done to badly. So, at the moment, we don’t need a third opener in the squad. If we need, we can fly him,” Agarkar said in the press conference in Dubai on September 25.
Easwaran's most recent appearance in red-ball cricket was against Australia A. Representing India A, he opened the innings with wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan and scored 44 runs. He was knocked over by Liam Scott. For the second unofficial Test, he wasn't picked as KL Rahul needed some game time before the Test series against the Caribbean side.
Once again, Easwaran will have to do the grind in domestic cricket. The selectors have picked him in the Rest of India squad for Irani Cup. He will be playing under the captaincy of Rajat Patidar against Vidarbha, starting October 1 at Vidarbha Cricket Association, Nagpur.
India Test squad for West Indies Test series -
Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vc), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav.
Rest of India squad (Irani Cup):
Rajat Patidar (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Aryan Juyal (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Yash Dhull, Shaikh Rasheed, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Saransh Jain.
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