India vice-captain Rishabh Pant confirmed on Wednesday that skipper Shubman Gill would occupy the No. 4 position vacated by the legendary Virat Kohli, and that he would be slotted in at No. 5, leaving the dilemma around the No. 3 spot heading into the opening game against England in Leeds, starting June 20. The general perception is that the selection headache for that top-order spot pertains to returning Karun Nair and the uncapped B Sai Sudharsan, both of whom have been highly backed by experts. But not to WV Raman, rather felt that this “dilemma” has led to an in-form star getting overlooked.
Speaking to the Times of India, the former head coach of the Indian women’s cricket team reminded the Times of India that the squad also has a certain Abhimanyu Easwaran. He came through the ranks and had long been knocking on the selection door until a call-up in the series against Australia last year. Although he did not get a game, he was reconsidered for the England tour, for which he vindicated the selection with back-to-back fifties in the two India A games he played.
In response to the ongoing conversation around Sudharsan, who has become quite the cynosure in the build-up with talks on his County experience in 2024, which included a century, Raman reminded the Indian think tank of Easwaran’s credentials. He urged head coach Gautam Gambhir to “reward” him for his consistency.
“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. 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 said.
Raman’s words indicated that he rather reckoned Easwaran should have been picked to replace Rohit Sharma when he was not part of the XI in the two Tests in Australia, rather than KL Rahul, given that the Bengal star was selected as a backup opener.
‘KL Rahul continues to slip under the radar’
The former Indian cricketer also questioned the discussions around Nair. While he admitted that the 33-year-old scripted a remarkable turnaround in earning a call-up to the Test team after eight years, he felt India needed to first look at Rahul, who impressed in the tour of Australia, before moving on.
“You just mentioned Karun Nair. Someone who is coming back on good run in the domestic circuit, found his second wind, did well in the IPL on a couple of occasions, double-hundred for the India A set- up. But then one player who continues to slip under the radar is KL Rahul. He starts a series in very emphatic fashion but then kind of tapers off. How important are these nine Tests going to be for KL Rahul – five away and then four at home.”
“Yeah, this has also happened on his last tour of England. He started off well and then he tapered down and this is something that has happened. We all know that. But again, still the fact of the matter is that he is experienced, he has got runs, he is capable of runs, he gives you the impression that he can get runs. So, he also is aware of the fact that he needs to step up as far as consistency is concerned. Now, the matter is very straightforward. You play him in the first three test matches, you see how he goes about it. Obviously, if he does well, you will continue him and then he has got to be told, yes, we are very well aware of the fact that you are talented, you have performed in all the three formats. Now, the time has come for you to up it in terms of consistency and a message has to be conveyed to him. And that’s the way to go about it. Failing which, you are anyway in a transition period. You got to try and look for other options.”
