Team India batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran left disappointed after failing to be in India’s squad for the upcoming three-match Test series in South Africa which will start on December 26. But the young Bengal opener is aiming to use this as motivation to do well in the upcoming Ranji Trophy as well.
After being with the team for both the home and away series against England this year, Easwaran did well in the recent series against South Africa A as well. And, the board chose Gujarat captain Priyank Panchal as a replacement for the injured Rohit Sharma, who was earlier appointed as the deputy of the Test team.
“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 again added.
“I don’t really think too much about what people say” – Abhimanyu Easwaran
However, missing out on the South Africa tour is certainly frustrating fr him, when he was the only Indian to score a hundred on the recently concluded ‘A’ tour there as well.
“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 further explained.
Meanwhile, the India ‘A’ squad has a few players who have played for the senior team but are yet to cement their places there as well. And, Abhimanyu Easwaran made it clear that selection isn’t primary for him.
“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,” Abhimanyu Easwaran concluded.
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