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There are so many debates on who will be included in the Indian playing XI for the Test series against England in absence of veteran batters like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. While there has been a lot of chatter over whether Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair will play together, many experts have advocated for the inclusion of Abhimanyu Easwaran in the playing XI.
According to former India cricketer WV Raman, Easwaran has been quite consistent in domestic cricket and he should be rewarded along with Karun Nair in the upcoming Test series.
"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," said Raman during a recent interview.
"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," he added.
Another former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif also warned the Indian team management against picking Sai Sudharsan ahead of Abhimanyu Easwaran in the playing XI.
According to Kaif, Easwaran must be a straight pick in the playing XI, citing his staggering 27 first-class centuries and around 8,000 runs under his belt in red-ball cricket.
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"Abhimanyu Easwaran deserves to be in the playing XI before Sai Sudarshan. Easwaran's 27 first-class hundreds and almost 8k FC runs need to be respected. By dropping Sarfraz, someone who scored runs for India A in England, selectors made a mistake. They shouldn't repeat it by keeping Easwaran out of the Leeds Test," tweeted Kaif.
