Why was Abhimanyu Easwaran dropped from India’s Test squad for West Indies series?

Despite proving his mettle in domestic cricket, Abhimanyu Easwaran is yet to make his debut for India. He was part of the squad that travelled to Australia and England, but couldn’t break into the playing XI. With Rohit Sharma opting out of the first Test against Australia in Adelaide, Easwaran was expected to make his debut, but the team management instead preferred KL Rahul, who is now a mainstay at the top of the order.

With Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal cementing their spot in the opening department, Ajit Agarkar mentioned that there was no need to add a third opener for the two-match series against West Indies. He noted that if required, Easwaran will be flown in between series to make room. Meanwhile, star all-rounder Axar Patel has replaced him as the selection committee wanted to add more options in the all-round department.

“Normally, when you travel, you carry 16 or 17. 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 Axar Patel. He wasn’t part of the squad to England, and you can only pick 15 here. So, there’s nothing to his story. KL Rahul and Jaiswal haven’t done to badly. So, at the moment, we don’t need a third opener in the squad. If we need, we can fly him,” Agarkar said in the press conference. 

Several other cricketers dropped

Apart from Easwaran, several other cricketers have been dropped. From the pace department, Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh have faced the axe. Akash has been announced in the Irani Cup squad for Rest of India, while Arshdeep will feature in the India A squad against Australia A.

From the batting department, Karun Nair has been dropped. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant will miss the series as the keeper-batter is yet to recover from his foot injury. From the all-round department, Shardul Thakur has been dropped.