"If they look at the stats, they might find different things" - Abhimanyu Easwaran is here to not just make up the numbers
August 2021: Shubman Gill was nursing an injury in his left leg, ahead of the big-ticket five-Test series in England. Mayank Agarwal, the backup opener, also got ruled out of the first match after getting hit on the helmet during a nets session. Suddenly, Abhimanyu Easwaran had the prospect of making his India debut at Trent Bridge in front of him.
But KL Rahul, who last played a Test two years back and was in the side as a reserve wicketkeeper-batter, was asked to partner Rohit Sharma up top. And the white-ball regular vindicated the move with a gritty 84. He followed it up with 129 to get himself on the Lord’s honours board. Naturally, he played all four Tests before Virat Kohli and Co. prematurely left following a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.
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December 2022: Skipper Rohit Sharma was set to miss the first Test against Bangladesh after injuring his left thumb while fielding in the second ODI. Abhimanyu Easwaran got called up to the main squad. There was no other designated opener in the side; Mayank Agarwal probably played his last match for India earlier in March. Fresh from scoring two hundreds in as many matches for India A, Easwaran was ever so close to finally getting the coveted India cap.
But India didn’t have a captain; Virat Kohli had removed the armband for good at the start of the year. KL Rahul was dialled, once again. He missed the home series against Sri Lanka and the rescheduled fifth Test versus England due to injuries. Coincidentally, he had last donned the Test whites in what was Kohli’s last match as captain. But none of it mattered as Rahul led India to a 2-0 series sweep. Abhimanyu Easwaran’s wait continued.
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“You are bound to feel bad. When you go up the ladder and you reach there, when the opportunity is almost there but doesn’t come, you will feel bad,” Abhimanyu Easwaran says in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.
The 29-year-old’s patience has been tested a lot.
He was supposed to play his 100th first-class match in the ongoing 2024/25 Ranji Trophy against Bihar starting October 18. Social media was full of congratulatory messages; there were expectations of a fifth successive hundred; the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) even felicitated him on the morning of Day 1. But guess what? Rain and a shoddy outfield washed out all four days of the match.
Abhimanyu Easwaran had to wait 13 days to play his milestone game. This time, for India A in Queensland's Mackay. While he would be disappointed with his returns – edged to slips for 7 in the first innings and run out for 12 in the second – it was an occasion to look back on a career marked with hard work, resilience, doggedness, and lots and lots of patience.
While everyone is celebrating his inclusion in India’s squad for the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, it is worth noting that he entered the Indian dressing room for the first time almost four years ago, in the home Test series against England in early 2021. He's been in the team photograph many times since then.
It’s easy to feel bad about a so-close-and-yet-so-far. But it’s easier, with a little bit of pragmatism and gratefulness, to find solace in coming that close. Abhimanyu Easwaran has always done the latter, and more. He takes confidence from his process which has opened up so many paths and got him to the doorstep. And he continuously strives to add more to his armoury to break that door down.
Since the start of 2023, India have handed Test debuts to five specialist batters. But since the 2017/18 Ranji Trophy season up until the Irani Cup this year, Abhimanyu Easwaran has scored more runs across the three premier red-ball domestic tournaments than all of them. He is head and shoulders ahead of even Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sai Sudharsan, the two players touted to make the reserves for the Australia tour.
From the start of 2017/18 Ranji Trophy to the start of 2024/25 Ranji Trophy: (Performances in only Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Irani Cup considered)
Easwaran has accumulated the most runs among them across the last five India A series too.
Performances in last five India A series (SA away, NZ home, BAN away, SA away, ENG home):
One perennial criticism he has had to deal with is the inability to score in crunch games.
“People can think what they want but, if they look at the stats, they might find different things,” was his immediate retort.
The numbers say Abhimanyu Easwaran notched up back-to-back centuries in the season-opening 2024 Duleep Trophy. The 157* and 116 came when only one other teammate crossed 25. He topped it with a flawless 191 against Ranji champions Mumbai. It made for consecutive hundreds in the Irani Cup too – he made 154 against Madhya Pradesh in March last year. While it was played in a league format this year, Easwaran has struck a century in both the Duleep Trophy finals he has been a part of – 127 vs India Red in 2017 and 153 vs India Green in 2019.
However, a sequence of 9, 0, 16 in the two Ranji Trophy summit clashes Bengal played in the recent past, definitely paints a grim picture. But he doesn’t shy away from admitting his shortcomings. A staggering five players debuted versus England at home earlier this year. And all of them impressed in the series against England Lions which was running parallelly. Rajat Patidar smashed hundreds in the tour match and the first unofficial Test, while Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal got to three figures in the second game.
On the other hand, Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was leading India A, could manage only 116 runs from six innings.
“Few players were injured, some of them were unavailable, and there was a really good chance of playing for the country. But I didn’t play well on that tour, I didn’t get many runs, and I have to accept that. I made a few mistakes, I was not doing too well. But that’s okay; such things happen,” he expressed regret.
He is also someone who takes both the good and bad in his stride. He won’t overthink a poor series. And he definitely won’t bask in the glory of four consecutive hundreds. Most importantly, he always thinks and manifests positive things, regardless of the circumstances. If you speak to him, his answers are riddled with ‘good things will happen soon.’
Good things need persistence. And Abhimanyu Easwaran has always persisted in making it back to where he should be. It is time the selectors and management persist with him.
Excerpts from Abhimanyu Easwaran's exclusive interview with Sportskeeda
Q. Four back-to-back hundreds. Five hundreds in the last six games including a double hundred. How is this feeling of whatever you touch turning into gold?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: It’s a good feeling when you’re scoring consistently for whatever team you play. Because that’s what you want – you want to contribute as much as you can. So it’s a good feeling that you are able to convert most starts into big scores.
Q. Is the thought and expectation of the Team India dream finally getting fulfilled as strong as ever?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: The dream has always been to play for India and win games for India. But with time, I have realised that selection is something that is not in my hand and, to put your energy into it, gives you a lot of expectations and you are then waiting for things to happen. But there’s actually no point. I have that dream but, if I keep working on my game and focus on the things in my hand, that is a better way to go forward.
Q. We are all humans at the end of the day. When you are in such red-hot form, do you ever visualise things like hitting a similar cover drive at the MCG?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: Yeah, that always happens. It’s not a new thing, it’s been there from the time I started playing cricket. You always dream of things like that – playing for India, getting the Test cap, winning a Test match for the country. It’s a really special feeling; I do visualise things like that. But I try and get back to reality and try and focus on the things I can do right now to become a better player and be better prepared for whatever opportunities I am presented with.
Q. How do you manage to keep your emotions in check?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: I think expectations are always there, as a human being. But you try and find a way to tackle them. I’ve been very lucky to have really good people around me – my family, my friends, my coach. Whenever I lack clarity, I talk to them and they get me back to where I should be.
Q. I know your family is one of your strongest support systems. But who is that sounding board who always tells you to put in more effort?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: That would be my father and my coach – they are the two people who have guided me a lot. They have seen my journey from day one. My father is my biggest supporter and my biggest critic as well. He’s the one who’d be the first to come and tell me if he feels there’s something I need to work on or something that is yet to be done. And there’s my coach Mr. Apurva Desai, who I have been working with for more than 10-11 years now. He’s seen me grow as a player; we’ve worked on a lot of things together. So he knows me well enough to talk to me and understand what I’m going through. I can also easily tell him what I am feeling or what I really want to do.
Q. Do you feel luck hasn’t really been on your side?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: Everybody has their own life path, you have to understand that. Really good things will happen pretty soon, and I am really positive about it. I’ve been batting well and I just want to keep going like this, and I am sure good things will come.
Q. Five pure batters made their Test debut for India in the last two years. But since the start of the 2017/18 Ranji Trophy, your tally of runs is head and shoulders above all of them. Do you feel it’s a matter of being at the right place at the right time?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: I think that is life; everybody has their own journey. I don’t want to compare myself with anybody else. But I think luck is a factor in everybody’s life; you can’t really control all of that. With time, you realise that everyone has their own path and things will happen at their own pace. Things are going really well so far, the season has started well, so I am pretty positive that good things will come.
Q. Do you meditate?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: A little bit; I won’t say too much. Sometimes.
Q. I want to talk about the England Lions series earlier this year. Five players made their debut from there, three of them pure batters. How frustrating was it thinking you could’ve also been there had you scored more runs?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: Yeah, I did think like that. Few players were injured, some of them were unavailable, and there was a really good chance of playing for the country. But I didn’t play well on that tour, I didn’t get many runs, and I have to accept that. I made a few mistakes, I was not doing too well. But that’s okay; such things happen.
Q. There was a genuine chance to make your debut in England in 2021 and then again in Bangladesh in 2022. How did you deal with these heartbreaks?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: You are bound to feel bad. When you go up the ladder and you reach there, when the opportunity is almost there but doesn’t come, you will feel bad. That is very normal for any cricketer or anybody in any aspect of life. You feel bad for a bit, but then you start thinking about what I can do about it. And the answer is, nothing. All I can do is try and do whatever I’ve been doing, because I’ve come so close doing whatever I’ve done. And if I can further improve, if I can get better, maybe I’ll get a chance and I want to be 100 percent ready for that.
Q. You said last year that you were working on some new shots. Was that the result of you having a great Mushtaq Ali?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: Yeah, I did work on a few shots and I worked on my intent. Because the two years before the last season, we played on wickets where the par score was about 125-130. But last year, we were very lucky to play in Mohali and Mullanpur which had batting-friendly wickets. And I knew if I work on these shots, I could get runs at a higher pace and end up being the difference between the two teams. So I did work on a few things with my coach and they paid off. I was disappointed with the way we played in the pre-quarters, though. I started well but I couldn’t continue.
Q. You have brought aggression into your red-ball game too. Has it been a conscious effort?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: Yeah, I have consciously worked on a few things, like scoring at a slightly higher rate. Because I think that’s the beauty of Test cricket. T20, I don’t think, you will ever want to play out a few overs. But in red-ball cricket, there will be phases where you’d have to play out a session. At the same time, as we saw in the Kanpur Test, there will be times you have to take on the opposition from ball one. So it is important to have a dynamic game and the ability to shift gears and understand how you can do it with your game. Everyone has their own way; so it’s important to figure it out, and work on it, and get better at it, and have the confidence to do it at whatever level you play. So I have done a lot of those things and they have paid off till now.
Q. How disappointing is to get ignored in IPL auctions?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: IPL is obviously the best league in the world. And every cricketer across the world wants to be a part of that tournament. So that’s always been a dream of mine to play for an IPL franchise. That’s not happened so far, but again, the reality again is I cannot control those things. I can just try and work on my game. So last year, when I worked on those things and that paid off in the Mushtaq Ali, it was a good feeling. So I want to play the way I did last year, because it did win us a few games. And let’s hope that good things happen soon. It’s just a matter of one day and it can change a lot of things.
Q. You were having a dream Vijay Hazare Trophy season. And it was cut short by a split webbing injury which forced you to also miss the first match against South Africa A. How frustrating was it?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: Injuries are obviously very frustrating, to be honest. Especially when you are doing well, you want to be there on the field and contribute as much as you can. And we were playing in Bombay, where the wickets were really good to bat on. And I felt we played some really good cricket until the fourth game. We had two important matches left versus Goa and Punjab, and we had to win at least one of them to qualify. We eventually did and that was something that was really good that happened. But injuries are a part of our sport, and they will happen. Mine was a freak injury and it happened just like that. I felt bad for a while, but I was really lucky it wasn’t a fracture which could’ve taken longer to heal. It was a matter of just three weeks. So I was like, ‘Okay it has happened, but it isn’t something major and I can be back really soon.’
Q. The 141 against Baroda was your highest List A score since October 2018. But that 73 against Madhya Pradesh came when no one could score even 35. Which was your favourite knock?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: Both were different, to be honest. It’s difficult to pick, but I’d go with the Baroda one. Because we were about 10 for no loss in the first six overs and we couldn’t put bat on ball. The wicket was pretty challenging, it was seaming quite a bit. So from there, to get a score of 320 was really nice. We applied ourselves really well and we knew once the moisture was out, we could capitalise on that pitch and that outfield. So to be able to do that and stay till the last five overs, was a good effort. And if you look at the MP game, the pitch was again little two-paced. At that ground, the shade stays till about 11 o’clock. So the pitch doesn’t get much of the sun. We knew that it wouldn’t be easy to bat on. But as a team, we adjusted really well and we knew that 250 would be a good score, because once the pitch dried up, there were dents on that pitch that could play in our favour. And we did bowl exceptionally well to bowl them out for 61.
Q. While everyone keeps talking about you and Test cricket, your List A average of 47.49 almost mirrors Joe Root’s corresponding numbers. How do you look at your ODI aspirations?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: I want to play all three formats. To represent the country has always been a dream, and I really enjoy playing all formats. It’s difficult to pick because every format has its own importance and fun in it.
Q. In the first game of the 2024 Duleep Trophy, you were out nicking to the keeper in both innings. Even though you were the winning captain, what was going through your mind?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: I was happy with the way we played because we beat a really good team in that match. But on a personal front, I didn’t do well as a batter. I didn’t play a good shot in the first innings, and didn’t execute well in the second innings. But I was understanding because I wasn’t moving too well in that game. I had come from an injury, I was at NCA for two and a half months. So I knew things wouldn’t be easy because I hadn’t played a game in the last four months. But the time spent in the first innings was really crucial – those 40-odd balls were really important for me beginning the season. I was feeling really good; apart from the shot that I played, I think I was batting well.
Q. Were you telling yourself not to play away from the body when you came out to bat in the next match?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: There are a lot of things you mutter during an innings. I don’t think there is ever one particular thing that you tell yourself throughout. It keeps changing according to the situation, what the bowler tries to bowl, how the pitch behaves. So you keep making adjustments within yourself about what is important in that moment.
Q. The two back-to-back hundreds weren’t streamed or telecast anywhere. Did you feel like Kapil Dev from Tunbridge Wells?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: No, no [laughs]. That was an exceptional knock. I feel a telecast match obviously gets a lot more coverage, but that’s okay. Luckily we have video analysts these days, so I could send a few videos to my family and they are happy to watch them.
Q. You did the heavy lifting during those two hundreds. Do you feel the result could have been different with a little more support from the other end?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: That happens. When you play a team sport, not everybody will perform. But it’s about being together as a team. And we had a really good time in the Duleep Trophy. Things didn’t go our way because batters fell short at times, bowlers couldn’t execute their plans as well, fielders weren’t at the right place at times – but that is the beauty of sport. I know the results didn’t go our way but, as a unit, we put in a lot of effort, and I think that is what matters. It was more about batters getting good balls rather than them throwing their wicket away.
Q. How much does the 191 mean to you?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: It was special because of the occasion – it was the Irani Cup against Mumbai. And everybody wants to score in a big game. After being on the field for more than two days, to come back out again, it was really special. I also knew the pitch was really good to bat on towards the end of Day 3, and I knew if I put value on my wicket and play the way I do, there would be a lot of runs on that wicket. So I kept reminding myself that I needed to stay in the present and take it one over at a time, because there are times when your mind runs too much. So it was a matter of keeping it as simple as I could, and it worked for me. People call it special but, at the end of the day, you want to win the match for your team. I was really disappointed because there were only 138 runs to get from there, and I knew if I batted for another session, we would have taken a first-innings lead. So yeah, things could have been different, but I played a false shot, which wasn’t required or I wasn’t really committed to playing that shot at that point. I was a little disappointed to get out that way.
Q. You faced only four balls out of the previous 24 before that dismissal. Did it sort of make you more fidgety?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: I don’t think that played a part.
Q. How do you look at this narrative or misconception that Abhimanyu Easwaran doesn’t score in big games?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: That is people’s opinion; I can’t change that. People can think what they want but, if they look at the stats, they might find different things.
Q. Was this playing in your mind during the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: No, I don’t really think about those people who talk. My job is to perform for my team, so I just focus on that.
Q. Did you have the heart in your mouth when you edged behind on 98?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: I did have my heart in my mouth when I nicked it. I knew I nicked it but, when I saw the ball gone through the gap between the keeper and slip, I wanted to celebrate that hundred and get back to my work again.
Q. What do you tell yourself in difficult situations when you have to pull your team out of the woods?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: I try and play the situation. I feel that if I can understand what the bowler is trying to do and how the pitch is behaving, and have a solid game plan and back it, that gives me the best chance to perform. And obviously, when wickets are falling, I try and talk to my partners and make sure to build one partnership. Because as a bowling team, when you take wickets continuously, you’re in the game and you push yourself because you know that there is a chance of getting another wicket. But when there is a partnership, people tend to change their plans and then go on the back foot, and that is when we can score a lot of runs. And on pitches that help bowlers, there are a lot of opportunities to score as well. Because you will see a lot of catching positions are there, and so there are a lot of gaps. So if you think that way, there are a lot of opportunities to get runs as well if you play good cricket. I just make sure I try and play good cricket; I back my game plan.
Q. Do you enjoy captaincy or does it bog you down?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: I enjoy captaincy. I have done it for Bengal, I have done it for India A, so I have enjoyed captaincy so far. I don’t really feel burdened by it and I am not thinking along the lines of I can focus on my batting if I leave captaincy. Because if the team thinks I can lead this team to a better place, that gives me a lot of joy because the team believes in me. And I can make sure I get the best out of every cricketer, I can make sure I help every person in the team as much as I can. And obviously when I am batting, I can just focus on my batting and make sure I contribute as a batter.
Q. How much does the Ranji Trophy mean to you?
Abhimanyu Easwaran: Getting so close and not winning the trophy, was obviously tough for us. We played some really good cricket until that point. Especially in 2019-20, we got pretty close; it was about 40 runs from taking a lead. The Ranji Trophy means a lot to me; it is a very, very special tournament.