Abhimanyu Easwaran has been the backup opener in India Test team since 2022.
Once again, Abhimanyu Easwaran was left out of the lineup for the fifth Test match against England at The Oval, which got underway on July 31, 2025, prolonging his long wait for a Test debut.
Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rishabh Pant were replaced by Karun Nair, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, and Dhruv Jurel in India's XI. On a cloudy, rainy day, England won the toss and put India in to bat. Interestingly, it was Shubman Gill's fifth consecutive series loss in the toss.
Easwaran has now been waiting 961 days for his debut after receiving his first India call-up during the 2022 Bangladesh tour. Ranganathan Easwaran, his father, voiced his displeasure with the selection procedure.
"I'm not keeping a count of the number of days that Abhimanyu has been waiting for his Test debut. I am counting the years; it has been three years now. What is the job of a player? It is to score runs. He has done that. People said he didn't perform in two India A matches during the last tour of Australia and didn't get into the team, which is fair enough.
But Karun Nair wasn't in the team during the period when Abhimanyu performed before the BGT. Karun wasn't picked for the Duleep Trophy or the Irani Trophy. Abhimanyu scored close to 864 runs if you consider the period from last year to the current year," Ranganathan Easwaran told the Times of India.
He also criticized the weight given to IPL performances in Test selection.
"Then how do they compare? I don't understand. They gave a chance to Karun Nair. Fair enough, he scored 800-plus runs. The selectors have put faith in him. My son looks a little depressed, but that is bound to happen. Some players jump the gun based on IPL performances, which earn them a spot in the Test team. IPL performances should not be counted while selecting the team for the longest format. Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and Irani Trophy should be the basis for Test selection," he added.
Easwaran scored consistently across domestic tournaments last season, with notable innings of 127*, 191, 116, 157*, 200*, and more. He has 7841 runs in 103 first-class games at an average of 48.70, with 27 centuries. Despite scoring 68 and 80 in the tour matches, he was passed over for Sai Sudharsan, who missed those games due to IPL duties.