"If your name is not there, you will always want to work harder and score more runs" - Abhimanyu Easwaran after South Africa snub

Abhimanyu Easwaran was rendered disappointed after failing to make India’s squad for the three-Test series in South Africa starting December 26. But the Bengal opener is aiming to use the snub as motivation to scale new heights in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.

After being with the Indian team for both the home and away series against England this year, Easwaran couldn’t find a place in the 22-member cohort. Selectors preferred Gujarat captain Priyank Panchal as replacement for the injured Rohit Sharma. But Easwaran is unaffected by it all and is focusing on the things in his control.

“Expectation is always there. Whenever a team comes up, you always look for your name. But then, if it’s not there, you will always want to work harder and score more runs. Selection is not in your hands, as a player. That’s something which the selectors or the management has to think about," Abhimanyu Easwaran said in an exclusive interview to Sportskeeda.

“My job is to just keep improving and giving my best in every single game and trying to win it for my team. My focus is on that only, and I think it makes things simpler if you just focus on your job. So that’s what I have been trying to do for a while now, and I think that’s been helping me,” he added.

It’s not easy to completely detach yourself from the result. But Abhimanyu Easwaran seeks to derive pleasure from what he has perennially enjoyed – batting.

“Batting and scoring runs is something which gives me most joy and then winning a game for my team. So I just focus on being happy that way, because I know selection is something I can’t control and it will happen when it has to. So if I just try and enjoy what I do the best and focus on that, I think other things will take care of themselves. If it has to happen, it will,” the 26-year-old remarked.

Missing out on the South Africa series must have been frustrating, especially after being the only Indian to notch up a hundred on the recently concluded ‘A’ tour in the same country.

“Getting a hundred is always special, and when you do it for the country at any level, it becomes more special. So yeah, it was a good feeling to get a hundred and doing it in South Africa was even more special. I don’t really think too much about what people say. For me, it was a good moment – I got a hundred, I celebrated it. Then I just wanted to switch on again and focus on the next ball, that’s what the feeling was exactly,” Abhimanyu Easwaran explained.

Batting at No. 3, Easwaran amassed 103 off 209 balls in the first four-day game before finishing the three-match series with 205 runs at an average of 41. Only Hanuma Vihari (227 runs) scored more among the visitors. But failure to capitalize on solid starts in both innings of the third unofficial Test rankles the batter.

“I was batting really well there and I could have made more runs, I missed out on a couple of innings where I could have gone big. That is something I am thinking about and not really thinking about selection. I just want to make sure whenever I get a start, make it big no matter what conditions I am batting in,” the Dehradun-born Easwaran opined.

Opening the batting in the last game, Easwaran scored 28 off 53 in the first innings and 19 off 25 in the second essay. All three matches played at Bloemfontein ended in draws.

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The plight of India's fringe players

Abhimanyu Easwaran scored 55 off 117 balls in the fourth innings chase of the second Test before rain played spoilsport

With India yet to win a Test series in the rainbow nation, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sent a total of 17 players on the ‘A’ tour to gain clarity on the final selection. Of those, only Priyank Panchal and Hanuma Vihari were picked in the main squad, while fast bowler Navdeep Saini and left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar traveled as standby options.

Vihari’s last Test was in Sydney in which he and Ravichandran Ashwin produced one of the grittiest rearguard actions, blunting 42.4 overs to help India draw the game. But a hamstring injury, which restricted his movements that day at the SCG, forced him to miss the home series against England and warm the bench in the away one.

It was a shame to be left out of the two-Test series against New Zealand at home last month as the selectors reportedly wanted to first try out Vihari in the not-so-kind South African conditions. Abhimanyu Easwaran heaped praise on the 28-year-old for answering his critics with the bat as he averaged 75.66 in the three-match assignment.

“I am sure he would have been upset because he’s done well for the country. And the last game he played, it was a game we drew in Australia which was very special. To draw a game from that situation, him and Ashwin coming together, I think that was a very special innings for him. And being dropped from the Indian side after being fit, it must have been tough but then, all he could focus on was getting runs in South Africa and that’s what he did and now he’s back in the side,” Easwaran told Sportskeeda.

Both Hanuma Vihari and Abhimanyu Easwaran, though, could have done with some words of advice from the selectors on how to work their way back into the side. While chief selector Chetan Sharma availed the platform of a press conference to explain the axing of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal from the T20 World Cup squad, Vihari and Easwaran were left out in the cold.

Even during the England tour in August-September this year, as regular openers Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal were ruled out with injuries, there were many unconfirmed reports of the management being unsure of Easwaran's credentials to brave overseas conditions. Communication was absent then as well.

The India ‘A’ squad has a few players who have represented the senior team but are yet to cement their places. What do players who have tasted success at the highest level talk about? Abhimanyu Easwaran made it clear that selection comes secondary as they always aim to win games as a team.

“Yeah we do talk about improving our games, it’s not about how we can get selected. Because again, that’s not controllable. You can just perform to your best and then hope that you get selected, you can’t think, ‘Yaar, main itna run banaunga toh selection hoga’. You can just try and get better and score as many runs as you can. If you get a hundred or double hundred, or if you get a chance, maybe a triple hundred, that would make your chance better to be selected," Easwaran explained.

"That’s the way we try and think and just giving the best for our teams. When we get together as an India unit, our aim is to win the series. Unfortunately, we got very close to winning the series – the second game was very tight but the weather didn’t help. But it’s just about winning games for the country, be it at any level,” he added.

Chasing 234 in the second match, Abhimanyu Easwaran (55 off 117) and Hanuma Vihari (72* off 116) looked well on course to guide India 'A' to victory. However, with the team just 79 runs adrift of the target, rain came pouring down and forced a draw in what was the closest encounter on the trip.

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“That will be more special than anything else” – Abhimanyu Easwaran on winning the Ranji Trophy

Abhimanyu Easwaran was the Player of the Match in the 2019/20 Duleep Trophy final for a stellar 153

In his debut season as captain, Abhimanyu Easwaran led Bengal to their first Ranji Trophy final after a gap of 12 years. He had his poorest season with the bat – 258 runs at an average of 17.20 – but what he regrets the most is failing to get his team over the last hurdle.

Since then, a lot of water has flown under the bridge. COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020/21 Ranji season, while Bengal have failed to win any silverware in the white-ball formats across two seasons under two different captains.

The final loss to Saurashtra is an indelible memory, still present at the back of Easwaran's mind. Expressing his pride to represent Bengal, he opened up about his hopes to reverse the plot as a new season of India’s premier domestic competition starts on January 13 next year.

“For me, the biggest motivation is for whichever team I play, I have a responsibility to give my best and try and win it for my team. And especially now, when I go back and play for Bengal, it’s very special because it’s a matter of pride to be representing a state like Bengal. And just to wear those Bengal whites, it’s very special and it’s just an amazing feeling to be playing for them," Abhimanyu Easwaran told Sportskeeda.

“So my job will be again to give my best in the first game, take it game by game and make my team qualify. Last time we were just short of winning the Ranji Trophy – we lost the finals – so if I can give my best and take my team through and win the final, that will be more special than anything else right now,” he continued.

The last two years have been full of crests and troughs for Easwaran, as has been the case for people around the world. After returning from South Africa, he recharged his batteries by holidaying in Goa with his family.

“They just try and motivate me. It’s just my dad, my coach, or very close friends, we talk about cricket. Off the field, it’s about other things and we try and relax. Yeah they have seen me grow, they have seen get runs, fail, so they understand me the most and know how to go about things,” Easwaran revealed.

Bengal have been placed in Group A alongside heavyweights like Vidarbha, Gujarat and Delhi. But Easwaran is counting on his experience of playing in Bangalore and will train accordingly as Bengal start their preparatory camp this week.

“It’s about preparing well and giving it my best, that’s all I want to focus on. Just prepare the best I can in the next few days – we’ll probably travel on the 7th or 8th for Ranji Trophy – so I’ll try and do whatever preparations I can. We are playing in Bangalore, so I have played there and I know what conditions to expect. So I can prepare accordingly and work on my fitness and make sure I am in the best shape going into the season,” Easwaran concluded.

Abhimanyu Easwaran batted at No. 3 in the first two games against South Africa ‘A’ before moving up to the opener’s spot for the third game. On one side, there is a slew of openers waiting to break the Indian team door open, while on the other hand, regular No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara is on borrowed time.

Maybe Abhimanyu Easwaran can man the No. 3 spot for Bengal in the forthcoming Ranji Trophy?