R Ashwin's Swipe At Selectors After Ignored Domestic Star Slams Century: "I'm Excited"
The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has often been questioned for selecting Test players on the basis of their white-ball and IPL performances.
- R Ashwin mocked the selectors as Abhimanyu Easwaran scored a century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy
- The BCCI selectors have often been questioned for selecting Test players based on their white-ball performance
- "I'm excited about another person. He scored a hundred in T20 also now. Now we can get to see him," he said
Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin took an apparent dig at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors, while addressing the recent Test series loss to South Africa at home. India suffered a 2-0 whitewash against the Proteas last week, raising doubts on the team selection criteria. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has been often questioned of selecting Test players on the basis of their white-ball and IPL performances. The likes of Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Dhruv Jurel have been fast-tracked into the Test side in recent times, despite relatively limited first-class (FC) experience.
In a recent interaction on his YouTube channel, Ashwin mocked the selectors as Abhimanyu Easwaran scored a century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Ashwin sarcastically urged the selectors to pick Easwaran for Tests since he has performed well in T20 cricket.
"I'm excited about another person. The Test incumbent player who has always been spoken about, Abhimanyu Easwaran. He scored a hundred in T20 also now. Now we can get to see him for sure now. Given that he has now scored runs in T20, for sure we will get to see him in the Test team now," said Ashwin.
Easwarana has been a domestic cricket stalwart for Bengal, with 107 first-class games, 8,070 runs at an average of 48.32 with the help of 27 centuries and 33 fifties. Yet, he continues to wait for his Test debut.
On Sunday, he slammed a 66-ball 130 but Bengal lost to Punjab by a hefty margin of 112 runs, courtesy of India T20I opener Abhishek Sharma's brutal 52-ball 148.
Abhishek and Prabhsimran added 205 runs for the opening stand in little over 13 overs, and left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar then returned excellent figures of 4/23 in four overs on a day when all the other bowlers were taken to the cleaners.
Punjab amassed an imposing 310 for five, which is the second highest in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, behind Baroda's 349 for five against Sikkim in Indore in December 2024.
(With PTI Inputs)
India Cricket Team
Ravichandran Ashwin