IND A star races ahead of KL Rahul in pecking order to play Perth Test if Rohit Sharma misses out: ‘Not ready but...'
Aakash Chopra suggested that none of the top-order batters managed to impress in the India A's second unofficial Test against Australia A.
Abhimanyu Easwaran failed to make an impact in the two unofficial Tests against Australia A and makes his case a bit weaker to fill in Rohit Sharma's shoes in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in case the Indian captain misses out. Speculations are rife that Rohit might miss the BGT 2024-25 opener due to personal reasons, as Easwaran has been picked as a backup opener in the squad. However, the Bengal star failed to impress on Australian soil with the India A team, which will make things tricky for the Indian team management. The race will be between Easwaran and KL Rahul if Rohit decides to miss the first test. Rahul, who started his career as a Test opener, has been batting in the middle order in the past few matches.
Rahul and Easwaran both failed to make an impact in the second unofficial Test against Australia A as former India opener Aakash Chopra suggested that none of the top-order batters managed to impress with the India A team.
"They got out once again. It was 0, 4, 0, 4 in the first innings. Here also, whether it's Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan, KL Rahul or Ruturaj Gaikwad, no one is scoring runs. India A are not playing well. It comes to your mind that you are preparing for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
'Easwaran doesn't have any returns in these unofficial Test matches'
In 101 first-class matches, Easwaran scored 7674 runs, with an average of 48.87, which included 27 centuries. Despite his consistent performances in domestic cricket over the years, he has not been able to get an India cap.
However, Chopra suggested that amongst the options, Easwaran has the the best chance to get picked in the XI to partner with Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first Test if Rohit misses the match due to personal reasons.
"For that, you sent your players early to practice and score runs. If they score runs, you could make up your minds to play them. Abhimanyu Easwaran still has bright chances of playing, although he doesn't have any returns in these unofficial Test matches. Based on that, you feel he is probably not ready," Chopra added.
