Patience is indeed a great virtue. But exactly how long can one remain patient, especially if one has to wait for four years for an international debut?

That’s the question Abhimanyu Easwaran faces.

Since the 2021-22 tour of England, the Bengal top-order batsman has been a part of the Team India dressing room, but is yet to earn an India cap. At that point in time, though, it was difficult for Easwaran to break into the side in the presence of Rohit Sharma, an established Test opener for India. Then Yashasvi Jaiswal emerged on the scene, making his debut in the Caribbean in 2022, and has since made good use of the opportunities to seal his place in the team.

During the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Rohit, struggling with his form then, had demoted himself in the batting order with KL Rahul and Jaiswal batting upfront. The then team management could have slotted Easwaran at No. 3 at least for one of the five Tests, but that didn’t happen.

Rohit and Virat Kohli’s Test retirements after the Australia tour meant a fairly young batting group has travelled to England. It was believed that Easwaran would finally get his chance in the ongoing series in England. But the script didn’t unfold that way for him. With the series about to end in a few days — the fifth and final Test started on Thursday — the India cap continues to elude Easwaran, a proven performer in domestic cricket.

On top of that, even batters like Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal, who both impressed in domestic cricket much later than Easwaran, have earned their Test caps.

“What’s baffling is, why is Abhimanyu selected then? He has been selected for so long, is good enough and has done well for India ‘A’, which is almost as good as playing for the country.

“But obviously, it seems the team management doesn’t seem to have that kind of faith in him. You have him there, but you give chances to players who have been tried, dropped and then again brought back,” former Bengal coach-cum-mentor Arun Lal told The Telegraph on Thursday.

Easwaran’s critics point out his inability to produce impact-making innings in the semi-finals or finals of the coveted domestic competitions. Even in the recent ‘A’ tour of England, he managed only 8 and 11 in the first innings of the two matches in Canterbury and Northampton, when the conditions were a tad challenging.

“See, the selectors usually give greater weightage to the runs scored in testing conditions, but it’s not that Abhimanyu hasn’t done that. The last two to three years may not have gone well by his standards, but by no means is he any lesser player.

“If he gets big runs in the Duleep Trophy, he can make a statement. Sometimes, the wait can be longer, but he will have to hang in there,” former national selector Devang Gandhi explained.