India’s chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, has clarified why Abhimanyu Easwaran was left out of the 15-member squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against the West Indies, starting October 2 in Ahmedabad. Easwaran, who was part of India’s England tour earlier this year but didn’t feature in any matches, was not included in the squad announced by Agarkar during a press conference on Thursday, September 25.
Commenting on the decision, the 47-year-old explained that with the series being played in home conditions, the team did not need a third opener. Instead, they opted to include spin all-rounder Axar Patel and added that a player can always be flown in if required. He stated:
“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 also spoke about the selection of Devdutt Padikkal, who shone in India A’s first unofficial Test with a 150-run innings against Australia A in Lucknow. He stated:
“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.”
“We Clearly Have Big Expectations From Him” – Ajit Agarkar On Nitish Kumar Reddy
At the same press conference, Ajit Agarkar lauded all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, remarking:
“Nitish showed a lot of promise, even the way he bowled at Lords and the way he batted under pressure in the second innings. And 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.
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