On Monday, as fans geared up for another match in the Indian Premier League 2023, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) dropped an update on the squad for the ICC World Test Championship Final, to be played against Australia at The Oval in London from June 7.
Ishan Kishan was named as the replacement for KL Rahul, who will undergo surgery on the right upper-thigh injury that he suffered during Lucknow Super Giants’ match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 1. While Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav have not been ruled out, because of shoulder and hamstring injuries, the BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring the pace bowling duo ahead of the summit clash.
Then, finally, there was a sentence on standby players, with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mukesh Kumar and Suryakumar Yadav named as backups for the much-awaited clash.
Kishan’s selection didn’t come across as a major surprise as the Indian team management is looking to fill the void left by Rishabh Pant’s injury. KS Bharat might start against Australia in the WTC Final, but Kishan’s inclusion does give India an unorthodox option in the middle order.
Wriddhiman Saha was tipped as an option on social media, but given that he was informed by Rahul Dravid that he would not be considered for the India team in future, the team management was never going to backtrack. Sanju Samson hasn’t done enough in domestic cricket, while Vidarbha’s Akshay Wadkar hasn’t even been rewarded with an India A call-up despite amassing 2,506 runs at an average of 53.31, with eight centuries and 10 half-centuries.
Gaikwad’s inclusion, in particular, has raised plenty of eyebrows even though he is just on the standby list. There was no mention of Abhimanyu Easwaran, the Bengal opener who has scored truckloads of runs for his state side and India A. Easwaran has been part of the Indian senior set-up for several Test series in the past, but has surprisingly been omitted from the squad altogether. That raises a pertinent question – is the IPL now being seen a gateway to the Test squad as well?
A report by the Press Trust of India (PTI) mentioned that the “it is believed that both team management and national selectors feel that Gaikwad has shown time and again in the IPL (different format) that he has the temperament to succeed at the highest level. For selectors, it is often not about the quantum of runs scored but more about how the runs are being scored, how one shapes up against quality attacks. Easwaran’s not being able to breakthrough in an IPL team and not winning any major knock-out games for Bengal in their last three seasons have also gone against him.”
Also Read: Ishan Kishan replaces KL Rahul in the WTC Final Squad
If we go by the report, then it is clear that IPL performances are a factor. But first, let’s compare how Easwaran and Gaikwad have fared in first-class cricket, including India A games.
In the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season, Gaikwad played seven innings where he scored 364 runs, laced with a century and two half-centuries, at an average of 52. Easwaran batted in 14 innings, scoring 798 runs at an average of 66.50 with three centuries and as many half-centuries. The season before, Easwaran scored 413 runs in 10 innings at an average of 41 and with a century and three half-centuries, whereas Gaikwad was not in the Maharashtra squad for the Ranji Trophy for that season.
Overall, Gaikwad has mustered 1,941 first-class runs in 47 innings at an average of 41.19, with six centuries and nine half-centuries. Easwaran has played almost double the number of matches while amassing 6, 556 runs at an average of 47.85, with 22 tons and 26 half-centuries.
One could argue that the level of Ranji Trophy, India’s premium red-ball tournament, isn’t that high. So, let’s take India A into consideration.
In 34 innings, Easwaran has scored 1,560 runs at an average of 47.27, with six centuries and four fifties to his name. For Rest of India, he averages 81.66 in four innings with 245 runs under his belt. Gaikwad has played just five innings for India A, scoring 258 runs at an average of 51.60 with one ton and one half-century to his name.
Since the Covid-19 lockdown was lifted and cricket resumed, Easwaran, in 39 innings, has scored 2,155 runs at an average of 60, with nine centuries and eight half-centuries. He also slammed a century in the Irani Cup to keep himself in contention. But with multiple reports stating that Gaikwad was preferred in the set-up, albeit as a standby player, due to his prolific season for Chennai Super Kings in IPL, the question is what domestic players, especially the red-ball specialists, can do if they are not able to crack an IPL contract.
Make no mistake, Gaikwad is a fantastic talent who will perhaps serve India for a long time, but what is Easwaran’s mistake? Not acing the IPL trial for Delhi Capitals? Are we really mixing formats?
Another name in the standby list is Suryakumar Yadav. Yes, SKY has been immense in the shorter formats of the game, and his heroics in white-ball cricket earned him a Test cap as well, against Australia. However, in the Nagpur Test, he scored just eight runs.
The other player who would be gutted to miss out on a call-up would be Sarfaraz Khan. In the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy, Sarfaraz scored 928 runs at an average of 154.67. After a one-year break, he slammed 982 runs at an average of 122.75 for Mumbai. In the 2022-23 season, Sarfaraz hammered 954 runs at an average of 86.72. Overall, he has a first-class average of 79.25, third in the all-time list, behind only Sir Donald Bradman (105.4) and Vijay Merchant (81.8). He may have struggled in the ongoing IPL for Delhi Capitals but again, are we mixing formats? Even Ravi Shastri, the former India head coach, feels Sarfaraz should walk into the Indian team.
Before the 2019 World Cup, the selectors dropped Ambati Rayudu for Vijay Shankar, a move that maybe costed India the trophy. This time, the selection committee is new, without a chief selector (Shiv Sunder Das is overseeing the process till a replacement is appointed for Chetan Sharma), and they have again shown why domestic performances don’t have the weight they once did. Maybe, going forward, players need to cultivate a fan base and social-media presence in order to make the cut. But the question remains: what message do such selections send to the players who toil hard in domestic cricket?