The past few years have been quite rewarding for young cricketer Abhimanyu Easwaran. He has made it to the India A squad, captained West Bengal to the Ranji Trophy final, and earned a call-up as a standby player for the England home series. And now he is part of the squad for the UK tour which also includes the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
As he gets ready to pack his bags and board the plane to England, Easwaran spoke about a range of topics in this exclusive with SportsAdda.
“It’s going to be a great experience being a part of the World Test Championship and playing the Test series against England,” Easwaran said.
The 25-year-old is all set to take up any challenge that comes his way on the long tour ahead, which ends in September.
“It is a great opportunity and a good challenge because playing at an international level in England as a batsman is challenging. As cricketers, we enjoy that. That’s something I am looking forward to.”
Easwaran was a standby earlier too, in the home series against England in February-March, where India charted a remarkable comeback after the Chennai debacle in the first Test and made it to the WTC final.
Having put in the hard yards in the lead-up to the WTC and the England series, the youngster was quick to react on his call-up.
“Yes, I was expecting a call-up this time,” Easwaran said confidently.
It was only a matter of time before Easwaran earned a call-up, considering his heroics in the domestic circuit. The batter has piled up 4401 runs in 64 First-Class matches at an average of 43.57 with 13 hundreds and his List A career reads 62 matches with 2875 runs and a healthier average of 48.72.
Being a part of the home series against England, the Bengal cricketer gained valuable experience and learnt the tricks of the trade by paying close attention to the preparation the senior players made before a Test.
Easwaran also lauded the attitude Team India showed after going down in the first Test against the English.
“The attitude which the team showed after being down 0-1 and then going to win the Test series was incredible. It showed how mentally strong and determined they are to win for the country, especially after the first Test.” Easwaran said.
Having featured quite regularly on the India A tours, Easwaran feels there is a vast difference between playing for the second-tier Indian side as compared to domestic cricket.
“We get to play international cricketers and that too in different conditions. If you play in New Zealand, there is pace and bounce. In England, there’s a Duke ball being used. These are the things that make a difference, mainly the international quality players and conditions."
The budding cricketer has a cool head on his shoulders and also understands the challenges that are required to alter between red-ball and white-ball cricket.
“There is a lot of cricket going around these days. It is more of a mental change and something personal because everybody has a different way of switching between the two. As professional cricketers, you have to find our own way of what works for us as individuals and what doesn’t and how quickly you can switch between formats.” Easwaran explained.
The youngster also plans on entering the biggest T20 stage though he was unsold in this year’s Indian T20 League auction.
“I would love to be a part of the Indian T20 League. It is one of the best in the world. If I am able to score well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali and win the tournament for Bengal, I think that would be a great chance to get noticed. However, I am just focusing on the present right now.”
Written by : Saumin Parmar
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Featured image : Instagram / Abhimanyu Easwaran
