Who is Bengal batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran?
What's the story
Bengal batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran is among the four stand-by players, who will be touring UK for the ICC World Test Championship final and England Test series.
The 25-year-old will join Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, and Arzan Nagwaswalla on the tour.
Abhimanyu has made the cut after fairing well in the domestic circuit.
Let us take a look at his journey.
Career
A look at this domestic career
Abhimanyu is a top-order batsman who leads Bengal in domestic cricket.
He made his First-class debut in 2013 against UP in Ranji Trophy.
Eventually, he also burst on to List A (2015) and T20 cricket (2017).
Till now, the right-handed batsman has racked up 4,401 FC runs at 43.57, including 13 hundreds.
He also owns 2,875 List A and 471 T20 runs.
Start
Abhimanyu had the support of his father
The cricketing journey of Abhimanyu started as a 10-year-old.
His father, Ranganathan Parameshwaran Easwaran, who couldn't excel in the sport due to financial constraints, brought Abhimanyu to Kolkata.
Abhimanyu lived with his coach Nirmal Sengupta in a place close to Bengal.
"My dad has been the biggest motivator and biggest critic," he told Cricketnext in a recent interview.
Rise
The Bengal batter shone in 2018/19
Abhimanyu's diligence paid off as he was drafted in the Bengal side in 2013.
However, he hit the purple patch in the 2018/19 Ranji Trophy season, wherein he tallied a staggering 861 runs at an average of 95.66.
He finished as the leading run-scorer for Bengal in the tournament.
The stylish batsman was deemed as a contender for India's Test team back then.
Performances
Here are his notable performances
In the 2018/19 season, Abhimanyu fired a brilliant 186 against Hyderabad in the first innings that set the foundation of Bengal's victory.
He followed it up with an unbeaten 183 against Delhi as Bengal chased down a mammoth 323.
His finest knock came against Punjab (201*). This was his first double-ton in First-class cricket.
In May 2019, Abhimanyu slammed 233 against Sri Lanka A.
Fall
Abhimanyu did well as captain, but failed to score consistently
After the high of 2018/19, Abhimanyu was named the captain of Bengal for the following season.
Although he led the side to the Ranji Trophy final in that season, his own performance dipped.
He could only muster 258 runs from 17 innings at an average of 17.20, and a best score of 62.
However, he fared well in the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy.
What next?
England tour: An opportunity to impress the selectors
Abhimanyu now has an opportunity to impress the selectors on the England tour even though he has been named as a stand-by player.
He would want to make the most of the intra-squad matches on the tour.
Considering how several youngsters rose to fame Down Under for India, the upcoming England tour could be a notable leap in his career.
Do you know?
Abhimanyu started preparing for England before the team was announced
Abhimanyu recently shifted to Dehradun, where his father runs a cricket academy. The former has been training in conditions somewhat similar to those in England. "We have a grassy pitch here, which I am batting on," Abhimanyu told ESPNcricinfo.