Karun Nair Revives His Career as Abhimanyu Easwaran’s Patience Runs Thin: Has Indian Cricket Been Fair?

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Like a steadfast lighthouse standing firm amid stormy seas, Abhimanyu Easwaran has patiently illuminated the path of Indian domestic cricket, his unwavering performances guiding hope for a brighter international future.

Yet, as waves of opportunities crash around him and others sail ahead, Easwaran remains anchored in the shadows, denied his rightful voyage into Test cricket.

Karun Nair's gritty fifty at the Oval has become a beacon of revival for his own Test career, rightly celebrated, but it also casts a longer, sombre shadow on Easwaran's ongoing exclusion. While Nair steels himself under pressure on the grandest stage, Easwaran, a colossal force in domestic cricket, watches silently from the sidelines, a spectator to a game he's more than ready to grace.

Easwaran's record reads like a timeless epic. Over 100 first-class matches, amassing nearly 8,000 runs at an average close to 49, punctuated with 27 centuries and 31 fifties, marking him as one of the country's most prolific and reliable batsmen. His monumental 861 runs in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season still resonates as a testament to his skill and temperament. Yet, despite such staggering numbers, he finds himself eclipsed by others-Sai Sudharsan for instance-whose opportunities in the current series have been met with moderate success but nothing conclusively surpassing Easwaran's quiet dominance.

Even as Sudharsan collects runs, the selectors have so far chosen to invest faith in Karun Nair, reinstating a player whose Test career has so far been sporadic and unsteady, sidestepping Easwaran's consistent brilliance. This choice raises uncomfortable questions: Is the selection process truly meritocratic? Is sustained domestic excellence being sidelined in favor of fleeting potential or past reputations?

Gautam Gambhir's selection committee bears the mild brunt of criticism here, not from bias but from a perceived inertia in giving deserving talents like Easwaran their devoted chance. Easwaran's father's candid remarks reinforce this view, urging selectors to look beyond IPL glamour and place greater value on long-format performances in Ranji and Duleep Trophy, the true testing grounds for Test readiness.

Easwaran's father recently lashed out at Gambhir and selection, which has already handed multiple opportunities to Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan. To be honest, Nair and Sudharsan both deserve chances, but their numbers in the series continues to remain modest, at best. Nair, despite his knock of 57 runs in the 5th Test, has scored a total of 188 runs across seven innings, with an average of 26.9, whereas, Sai Sudharsan's numbers show just 129 runs at an average of 25.8.

It is not just about a player's numbers but about trust and timing- two ingredients Easwaran has in abundance yet remains denied. The long wait beyond 961 days in the squad without a debut, while 15 others have been handed tries, is a narrative that unsettles cricketing conscience. Is India's heady rush to identify stars leaving steady pillars neglected? Easwaran's case demands more than sympathy - it demands rectification and addressal.

Can we afford to overlook a player who embodies perseverance, technique, and maturity simply because his journey isn't as loud or flashy? Abhimanyu Easwaran is more than a statistic; he is a story of unwavering grit waiting for its rightful opportunity on the world stage. As another series passes, the wait continues for Easwaran. In the tapestry of Indian cricket, there have been many whose careers never flourished for lack of opportunities. A deja vu with Easwaran will be a massive tale of injustice, and Indian cricket must avoid it at any cost.