While announcing the 15-member squad for the West Indies Test series at the Indian team hotel in Dubai on Thursday, Chairman of Selectors Ajit Agarkar dropped elaborate hints that Karun Nair and Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran are no longer in the scheme of things.
Devdutt Padikkal returned to the Indian squad for the West Indies series while Karun Nair and Abhimanyu Easwaran, who were part of the Indian tour of England, were dropped.
However, while speaking on Nair, he was clear that the 30-year-old burly Bengaluru man didn't make full use of opportunities, scoring one fifty in eight innings during the tour of England.
"We feel Padikkal offers a little bit more at this point and I wish we could give everyone 15 or 20 Tests. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way," Agarkar said.
"Padikkal's been in the Test squad. Frankly, we expected a bit more from Karun in England. Devdutt was in the Test squad in Australia, played in Dharamsala against England, got a 50 there. He's shown some decent form within the race," the former pacer stated.
When asked why Sudharsan got the nod when he and Nair had a similar run in England, Agarkar said: "Eventually, it's a little bit about continuity. There were a few changes at No.3 because of the combination that we played.
"But going forward, Sai has shown a lot of promise. We know he's a very good player. Hopefully, we can give him a longish run from now on, at a particular number," he explained.
Easwaran, a frequent traveller with the squad for the last three to four years but never a member of the playing team, now finds himself out of the picture.
Agarkar urged people not to read too much into it, although with no foreign tours for the next one year, Easwaran's Test debut looks unlikely with N Jagadeesan being looked at as a potential third opener.
"Normally, when you travel abroad, you carry 16 or 17, you take a third opener. KL Rahul and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal haven't done too badly. At the moment, we don't need a third opener just sitting out in the squad," Agarkar said.
"If need be, we can always fly him and play the Test."
The selectors felt that Axar Patel as an all-rounder is a better fit.
"You get an extra spinner all-rounder in Axar Patel who wasn't part of the squad to England and we've only picked 15 here. There's nothing to his story."
The series gets underway in Ahmedabad on October 2, with the second Test taking place in Delhi from October 10.
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