• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Strong Family Ties Sacrifices Incredible Work Ethic Form Core To Easwarans Fascinating Journey

Strong family ties, sacrifices & incredible work ethic form core to Easwaran's fascinating journey


Abhimanyu Easwaran was 10 years old when he left home to pursue his dream. Shifting bases from Dehradun to a small town in Bengal border living 1800 kilometres away was not easy as a kid, but for Abhimanyu, it all came good. After piling truckloads of run in First Class and List A cricket consistently over the last few years, Easwaran came one step closer to realizing his dream in January 2021 when he received a call up to b stand-bye for India vs England series. Currently training in the national camp ahead of international cricket’s return to India, OneCricket caught up with the Bengal Ranji captain who spoke his heart out about the sacrifices, hardwork and grit that has gone into arriving at this moment.

Congrats on getting called-up in the squad. How did you get the news and what was your reaction?

Thank you so much, it feels great. I started playing cricket with a dream to play for the country and I am getting closer to it. So, it feels great to be a part of the team and I am really excited to get on the field.

Who broke the news to you?

It was my parents who broke it to me. I was at my best friend’s place and I was sleeping (laughs). I was woken up by their call and they told me about the selection.

How did the family react?

They were very, very excited and they were really happy. As a family we have gone through a lot. I have not stayed with my family and it was especially hard on my mom and my sister. I have been playing cricket as a kid and just to get closer to my dream and their dream too, it obviously feels great.

Talk to me about your shift to Bengal

I moved to Bengal when I was 10. My dad took me to Bengal at this place called as Bongaon. Me and Abhishek Raman (Bengal cricketer) stayed with our coach Mr Nirmalya Sengupta. It wasn’t as much a sacrifice for me because the only thing that I loved, I was getting to do that all day.

We used to practice in the morning, come for lunch and then go to practice again. We were playing a lot of matches at that time.

It was more of a sacrifice for my family, because I was getting to play cricket and it wasn’t an issue for me. It was more difficult for them because they could not see me for long.

How would you like to reward them? A century when you get a debut maybe?

(Laughs) I would love to do that. Getting a big score whenever I get a chance or winning a game for the team, I think that would be the best present to them.

What is your family like?

My father is a Tamilian and my mom is a Punjabi. My father is a chartered accountant and my mom is a house-wife. They met in Dehradun and got married. I have an elder sister and even though I stay away from them, we’ve got a very close-knit family. We are one of those who talk like three times a day. Whenever we can make time, we try to catch up in either Dehradun, Kolkata or Delhi.


While talking about technique, form and how he has piled up runs in the domestic cricket, Abhimanyu sounds measured. There is good reason for that. Barring his debut season for Bengal in 2013-14, the right-hander has scored at an average of over 40 in Ranji Trophy. At a Bradmanesque average of 96 (861 runs from 6 matches), he was one of the key figures in the Bengal 2018-19 Ranji campaign. There were expectations that he might get a shot at playing in the Indian Premier League, either this season or in the next; but then came the slump.

After being awarded the captaincy in 2019, Easwaran faltered with the bat. While the team went to the finals (where they eventually lost against Saurashtra), the Bengal captain had his worst season with the bat. He finished the season with 258 runs from 10 matches at an average of just 17. Returning back home in Dehradun after the final and then eventually staying their due to lockdown, Easwaran feels that the bad patch is behind him.

"I did not play well in the last season but I was really happy the way our team was performing. I think it was something like, as a player, you get those phases when you don’t get runs. I think it’s gone now. I am feeling really good. I have worked on a few things during this lockdown and I feel really good right now. I am batting really well and let’s hope, whenever I get a break, I’ll make sure that I get the runs for my team." Easwaran told OneCricket.

There are not many 24–25-year-olds in the country who can boast about having played in West Indies, England and New Zealand. Talk to me about the experience there.

I am very lucky to represent India on A tours. It was a really good experience playing in West Indies, England and New Zealand. The conditions are so varied, in England the Dukes ball moved throughout the day and the bowlers really bowl well given they have grown in up those conditions. In NZ the wickets are hard. It is very windy, there is seam and bounce, and I think at the end of the day it is about adjusting to those conditions, having certain game plans and concentrating on your way of getting runs in those wickets.

It is a really good exposure for us playing in those conditions. If one of us gets called up to play in those conditions, then we know what to expect and how to deal with those conditions.

It is a great initiative by the BCCI to have A tours before the series. There is a lot of learning there.

You have trained under Rahul Dravid. What have you learnt from him?

Rahul sir has always been my idol since I started playing cricket. To share the dressing room with him was great and I think the biggest learning from him was that he used to keep things really simple. He used to share his experiences as to what he felt the conditions were and he was very approachable. We could call him before the tour, even when the tour was announced we could ask him what his thoughts on the conditions were.

The best thing was that he told me to stay in the present. There was a time when I was getting 50s for the India A team, but I wasn’t getting the hundreds. He told me that I was batting really well and advised me to stay in the present and to just keep it simple. Simple things like focusing on one ball at a time and if I was to think ahead, think about one over max. That was a really small thing, but that made a big difference. I got a lot of hundreds after that.

Before signing off, who would you like to thank for where you are today?

It will be my family. My parents and my sister. They have played the biggest part for whatever I am and wherever I have reached even though there is a long journey to go. And all of the coaches who have played part in my journey. I would give special thanks to Mr Apoorv Desai, he has been working with me for a long time now. He has always had that faith in me and has helped me in whatever phase of life I’ve been in.

Powered by Froala Editor

Powered by Froala Editor

Discover more
Top Stories
news

Jack Leach takes heart from Swann-Panesar, but backs his own 'strengths' to defy India

England have been the only team which has won more than one Test match and a Test series in India in the past decade and they are not short of confidence as another four-match series is all upon the cricketing world. There are great expectations from both sides, and largely, this series is being built up as the one between the English batsmen and the Indian spinner. However, the tourists are not downplaying their spin resources and they made it absolutely clear that they are coming in with confidence and back their spinners to make the impact when the pacer Jofra Archer openly challenged the hosts saying the English team can’t be 'outspun' by the hosts. One among the three spinners the tourists are coming with in the big series against India, Jack Leach too exuded the same level of confidence that Archer had shown on the spinners. The left-arm spinner who is on his maiden tour to India said in his first virtual interaction to the press that he is coming with the mindset to make an impact in the outcome of the series and that the presence of a lot of right hander batsmen in the Indian top order, makes his cases for success a bit easier. “I definitely think I can make an impact in this series, obviously we have got three days training and I am not sure what the wicket is going to be like or anything, so not looking too far ahead but definitely want to make an impact and they have got quite a lot of right-handers, so I see that as a good thing for me," Leach said in the virtual press conference. Leach and his partner in crime—Dominic Bess and Moeen Ali will have their task cut out as they will bowl under the pressure of leading the bowling attack given more assistance available for the spinners on the Indian pitches. But, history suggests it has not been that easier for overseas spinners to shine bright on Indian pitches and most of them have only been plummeted by the home batsmen. Leach too realised the potential and quality of the Indian batting order, but he relishes the prospect of bowling against batsmen who he believes will certainly cause problems to his side. The English think tank has done a lot of hard work on analysing the batting technique of Indian batsmen, but Leach does not want to complicate his bowing tactics and rather he wants to enjoy the opportunity to bowl on pitches conducive to spin bowling as the conditions in India can be as good as a spinner can dream of. "We've been watching some analysis on the Indian batsmen and they're all going to cause certain problems for us. Playing in SL tracks is a good experience to draw on. It's mainly about doing what I do well and not complicating things too much,” Leach added. "They are obviously a quality side and have come back off a great win in Australia, but I think it is just a great opportunity for all of us to test ourselves against probably the best side in the world and to do here in India, my first time in India. "This is what the dream you have, to come to places like these. Obviously, it is a fantastic opportunity, and I want to enjoy it.” Lessons from Swann and Panesar The only time India lost a Test series at home in the past decade was in 2012 when the spin twins of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar ran through their batting order in Mumbai and Kolkata. The duo presented a completely different set of challenges to the Indian batsmen and turned out they could not quite raise their game. Swann defied batsmen with his guile, and change of pace and flight on the ball, while Panesar bowled at a brisk pace to extract maximum bounce off the pitches at the Wankhede Stadium and Eden Gardens. Leach has studied what worked for Swan and Panesar and he did not hide his high regards for the duo who made the England team achieve something that was deemed pretty impossible before it was actually done. The fact that no other team could even come close to defeating India in a series for a long time established the grand success of the tactics of Swann and Panesar. But, leach is pragmatic in his approach as he understands his own game and at least, to begin with, the series, he is willing to stick to his own strengths, instead of emulating what worked for his heroes in India. "Monty and Swann are two bowlers I love to watch. I watch a lot of spin videos to try and take things from the spinners. Monty bowled at a quicker pace in India and that could be very tricky on a spinning wicket,” Leach said. "I am probably not going to be bowling at the same speed. It is probably more about how the ball gets to the batsman in terms of trajectory. There have been other successful bowlers who didn't bowl as fast as Monty did. It is about sticking to my strengths and knowing what my optimum pace and then going up and down a little bit from there. Everyone has an optimum pace. It's important to stick to that as much as possible.” Both Leach and Bess will have the task of taking wickets as well as stopping Indian batsmen from running away with the game by denying them loose balls. Cricket pundits have argued that overseas spinners have not been able to tighten their line and lengths against Indian batsmen in India and hence the visiting captains are forced to bring back their pacers to control the game, thereby taking away the major wicket-takers out of the attack. England have enforcers in Jofra Archer and Mark Wood who can bring fire to the batsmen, and the old-aged guile of James Anderson and Stuart Broad can also be instrumental for England’s success in India, but for that to happen, the trio of Leach, Bess and Moeen Ali will have to be at the top of their game all the time in the series starting February 05.

news

Shubman Gill has got all the shots in the book: Brad Hogg

Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has praised India’s new opener Shubman Gill for the way, the right-handed player performed in Australia. Talking about his batting, Hogg said that Gill has got all the shots in his book. “He (Shubman Gill) has got all the shots in the book. The thing that impressed me here in Australia was that when the Australians tested him with the short ball, he was prepared to take on the hook shot. He is going to be a little bit of a legend and he is going to be one of the best openers that the world sees over the next ten years in Test cricket,” Hogg said on his YouTube channel. Gill has received appreciation from another former Australian batsman Michael Hussey. “There were some wonderful performances from India. I think Gill’s innings was superb. He looks like a real player for the future of India. I love the way he goes about it. And of course, Pant played one of the most incredible innings I have seen,” Michael Hussey was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times. India made a brilliant comeback in the four-match series against Australia. They lost the first match after getting bundled out for 36 in the second innings but etched wins in second and fourth match while the third Test ended in a draw. Gill played a crucial knock in his debut scoring 45 and 35* in the first and second innings respectively while played a match-winning knock of 91 in the second innings of the fourth and final Test in Brisbane.