Facing continued snub from Test squad, warming the benches while others come and Test cap, Abhimanyu Easwaran has looked to reinvent his game, at least in the fast-paced T20 format. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 clash against Abhishek Sharma’s Punjab, Bengal skipper Easwaran did not find much support from the other end in the unsuccessful run chase of 311 but he flaunted the changes he has made to his strokeplay. The prolific run-scorer of red-ball domestic cricket made everyone notice as he played sweeps and reverse sweeps to access areas on the field he did not target before.
“A few things that I have been training on worked well [against Punjab]. One of them is exploring different areas of the field. For example, the switch hits and the reverse sweeps came into play. Being able to access different parts of the ground and find a way to get boundaries in every over, almost. Being able to find boundaries consistently was important, especially when chasing such a big target,” Easwaran said as he scored his career best unbeaten 130 to save Bengal from an even bigger defeat than 112 runs.
This was Easwaran's second fifty of his T20 career. In reply to Abhishek Sharma's record-breaking 52-ball 148, he hit 13 fours and eight sixes from 66 balls he faced. Apart from Easwaran, none of the top nine batters of Bengal scored in double digits. The next highest came off Akash Deep's bat who hit five sixes from seven balls he faced.
Easwaran vows to do 'much better'
Easwaran has scored heaps of runs in domestic cricket but the reports have often suggested that his performances for India A have not been upto the mark. That’s one major reason why he hasn’t made his Test debut yet. He had a chance to prove himself against South Africa A but recorded a pair of ducks. Easwaran recalled that he had a conversation with senior batter KL Rahul and vows to do better if another opportunity presents itself.
“I had a good chat with KL Rahul about my batting, about how he was going about, and how to prepare better as a top-order batter. The South Africans played really well, so there was a lot to learn from them also. The next opportunity I get, I’m sure I’ll do much, much better,” Easwaran revealed.