Dehradun: 25 year old, Dehradun born Abhimanyu Easwaran, makes it to the BCCI India squad as a standby for the first two test matches against England starting 5th February at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai.
Abhimanyu Easwaran a star in Bengal cricket has represented the country in the Under 19 team as well. A top order batman, a right hand leg spinner and googly bowler, Abhimanyu has worked his way up the success ladder. He has represented Bengal in Ranji Trophy matches, and is based out of Kolkatta.
On making it as a standby in the team, Abhimanyu tells us, “It is a very good feeling being selected in the Indian Test Team standbys, it is a step closer to the dream for which I started playing cricket.”
Abhimanyu has a lot of ‘firsts’ under his belt when it comes to cricket. He has played 64 first class matches, 57 List A matches and 19 T20s. He broke Saurav Ganguly’s record of being the youngest player to score centuries at both the innings of the Ranji Trophy tournament for the Bengal team while playing against Uttar Pradesh.
So what is his game plan for the days ahead, he replies, “Now is the time to play harder and improve my game more and get those performances so that I can make it into the main Indian Team and represent my country, that’s been my dream since I started playing cricket.”
The India Vs EnglandTest Match will also mark the return of skipper Virat Kohli post his paternity leave along with Hardik Pandya and Ishant Sharma.
TEAM- Openers: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal. Middle-order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul (subject to fitness after first Test). Fast bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur.
Spinners: R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel. Standbys: KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar. Net bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, K Gowtham and Saurabh Kumar.Doon
