"I have practiced with him and seen how hard he works, so he is someone who deserves this opportunity" - Dinesh Karthik on Abhimanyu Easwaran 

Veteran keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik shed light on India 'A' skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran being called up to the national side following Rohit Sharma's injury. The Bengal-born batter has been prolific on the domestic circuit for quite a while and was rewarded with his maiden international call-up.

Prior to this, Abhimanyu Easwaran was named on the standby list during Team India's World Test Championship (WTC) final squad as well as the ensuing tour of England in 2021.

The opening batter recently registered two centuries in India A side's 1-0 triumph over Bangladesh across an unofficial Test series earlier this month.

Averaging 45.33 in first-class cricket, he has been a mainstay for Bengal since making his debut in 2013.

Karthik opined that the new kid on the block will find it hard to break into the playing XI with the likes of Shubman Gill and KL Rahul already present at the top of the order. Noting that Easwaran deserves a call-up whether he ends up playing a match or not, Karthik said on Cricbuzz:

"Abhimanyu Easwaran has been around the circuit for some time now and has done really well. Deservingly gets the opportunity, but again, he might not play in the XI because Shubman Gill and KL Rahul will open the batting."

He continued:

"I promise you he has been another guy who has been constantly banging at the door, been a good servant for Bengal in domestic cricket for the last 4-5 years. I have practiced with him, and seen how hard he works, so he is someone who deserves this opportunity."

Apart from Easwaran, Team India have roped in Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, and Jaydev Unadkat as last-minute replacements to combat the injury crisis. The changes come on the back of Rohit, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammad Shami being unavailable for the Test series.

---

"Rewarding domestic performance is great" - Dinesh Karthik

The credibility of domestic cricket performances has arguably been diluted, especially since the emergence of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The T20 extravaganza has gone on to be the criteria and the benchmark for players to prove their mettle, leaving the domestic competitions in its shadow.

Praising the selectors for picking up players from the domestic circuit, Karthik said:

"I think there has been a lot of talk about the selectors and the kind of selections made, but this one is highly justified. They could have easily gone with Mukesh Kumar, who has just done well for India A, but rewarding domestic performance is great."

India are scheduled to face Bangladesh in the first Test starting on Wednesday, December 14, at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

Will Abhimanyu Easwaran feature in Team India's playing XI? Let us know what you think.

---