Intense batting session at the nets and the other rigorous drills were all in place for Abhimanyu Easwaran. He and his teammates were also provided a bit of vocal tonic by Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly on the sidelines of Bengal’s training session at Eden Gardens on Monday.
In terms of going through the regular processes, Easwaran seems to be ticking all the boxes he is required to. Dropped for the ongoing West Indies series, making a comeback in the Team India squad may not be too easy for the 30-year-old top-order batsman. But at present, what matters more for Easwaran is pressing the reset button, taking a fresh guard and making full use of the Ranji Trophy games, beginning with the opener against Uttarakhand at the Eden from Wednesday.
“I’m just looking at what’s next for me,” the Bengal captain told The Telegraph after practice. “I’m quite excited about Ranji and very much looking forward to it. There’s excitement for every Ranji season, and this time around, we have a good team, good enough to win the tournament.
“As for me, I’ll just be taking one game at a time and then see how it goes. Yes, obviously, there are areas where I’m working on, and that’ll keep happening till the time I play cricket.”
The criticism that Easwaran often comes across is his inability to produce impact-making innings at the big stage, like in the two Ranji finals in the 2019-20 and 2022-23 seasons. Even in a few India A matches, Easwaran had struggled when he was expected to deliver.
Having said so, it may not have been too unfair to give him at least one chance in the XI during the five-Test tour of England. Good to be picked in the squad, but not good enough to be included in the XI. Doesn’t Easwaran himself find it to be weird?
“It’s tough as a player, because you want to play for India at the end of the day... But again, that’s something not in my hands, and that’s gone now. My focus is all on the Ranji Trophy now,” Easwaran said.
What was his mindset finding himself benched in each of those five Tests? “Nothing, you feel bad, as in you feel disappointed. But again, you have to accept the reality,” Easwaran stated. “All I could do was work hard on my game and get better.”
It’s not over until it’s over, so Easwaran should not lose hope.