“You can always fly a guy out” - Ajit Agarkar explains Abhimanyu Easwaran’s snub from IND vs WI 2025 Tests

India’s chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, has explained the reasoning behind Abhimanyu Easwaran’s omission from the upcoming two-match Test series against the West Indies, starting October 2 in Ahmedabad.

Ajit Agarkar announced the 15-member squad during a press conference on Thursday, September 25, which excluded Easwaran, who had been part of India’s away tour of England earlier this year but did not play any matches.

Speaking on the omission, the 47-year-old emphasized that while playing in home conditions, the team did not require a third opener. Instead, they included spin all-rounder Axar Patel in the squad and noted that they can always fly a player in if needed. He said:

“I mean, normally when you travel, you carry 16 or 17. You take a third opener. Here, if there is some injury or something goes wrong, you can always fly a guy out and play him. Here, you get an extra spinning all-rounder in Axar Patel, who wasn't part of the squad to England and we can only pick 15. So there's nothing to his story."

"KL Rahul and Jaiswal haven't done too badly. So, at the moment, we don't need a third opener just sitting out in the squad. If need be, we can always fly him out and play the Test," Ajit Agarkar added.

Agarkar further commented on the inclusion of Devdutt Padikkal, who recently impressed in the first unofficial Test while playing for India A, scoring 150 against Australia A in Lucknow. Agarkar said:

“We feel Devdutt Padikkal offers a little more at this point. He was in the Test squad in Australia and played in Dharamsala against England, where he scored a fifty. He has also shown some decent form with India A.”

Devdutt Padikkal has played in two Tests, scoring 90 runs at an average of 30.00, including a fifty.

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“We obviously have high hopes of him” - Ajit Agarkar on Nitish Kumar Reddy

During the same conference, Ajit Agarkar praised all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, saying:

“Nitish showed a lot of promise, even the way he bowled at Lords and the way he batted under pressure in the second innings. So we can see that, plus his batting in Australia has shown he's got the potential, and he's still a young kid who's developing his game.”

“So the more he plays, the better he's going to get, and we obviously have high hopes of him. So if he does develop into that all-rounder that you always keep looking for, it does give you a lot of flexibility with the 11s that you pick and the balance you can create in the team,” he added.

Reddy has featured in seven Tests, scoring 343 runs at an average of 28.58, including a century, and has taken eight wickets, with best figures of 2/32.