‘He has worked so hard’ – Dinesh Karthik showers praise on youngster after India call-up
Dinesh Karthik (Source: Twitter)
Abhimanyu Easwaran is one of the rising stars in the Indian domestic circuit. The 27-year-old is one of the rare old-school batters who doesn’t play in the Indian T20 League and doesn’t even register for the auction. The longer the format, the better he gets. For a good four-five years now he has been following the same routine and it is now finally giving the rewards.
The opening batter has been selected in the India squad for the first Test of the series against Bangladesh replacing the injured captain Rohit Sharma who was ruled out with a dislocated thumb. The Bengal batter is expected to stay with the Test squad for the second Test as well unless Rohit recovers miraculously quicker than expected.
The talented opener might not find a place in the XI as stand-in captain KL Rahul and Shubman Gill are set to be the preferred choices but veteran India cricketer Dinesh Karthik believes Easwaran is someone who ‘banging at the doors’ very hard and will get his opportunity sooner rather than later.
“Abhimanyu Easwaran has been around the circuit for some time now, has done really well and now deservingly gets his opportunity. He might not play in the XI because of KL Rahul and Shubman Gill… for sure they will open. I can promise you he’s another guy who has been constantly banging at the door,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz ahead of the first Test match against Bangladesh in Chattogram starting Wednesday.
“He has been a very good servant for Bengal in the four or five seasons. His dad is someone who has a fantastic ground in Dehradun, have fond memories of going there. That kid is somebody who has worked so hard, I’ve seen him, I’ve played with him, practice with him. I have seen how hard he works,” Karthik added.
Credit to the selectors for noticing domestic performances: Dinesh Karthik
Easwaran has literally forced the selectors to take a notice of him with back-to-back hundreds in the two unofficial four-day Test matches against Bangladesh A. The Bengal captain who was leading India A, scored 299 runs in two matches and was the top run-getter. Courtesy of his stupendous performance, he was naturally considered ahead of the more experienced Mayank Agarwal as Rohit’s replacement.
Easwaran was not the only one given a chance in the Bangladesh series after doing well for India A and domestic cricket. Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar and veteran Jaydev Unadkat too were added to the India squad after putting in the hard yards for years in first-class cricket. Karthik further credited the selectors for giving importance to domestic performances.
“Credit to the selectors for giving a lot of time to these performances that happen in domestic cricket because sometimes it can go unnoticed, it’s good to see them getting noticed,” Karthik added.
