ENG vs IND: Fans question IPL favouritism as Abhimanyu Easwaran gets overlooked-OxBig News Network

Abhimanyu Easwaran once again failed to earn his maiden Test cap as he was overlooked for the first Test against England at Headingley, Leeds on Friday, June 20. The team management handed a debut to Sai Sudharsan, who’s been slotted at number three as India begin their new era under the leadership of Shubman Gill.

As a result, Easwaran’s long wait for a Test cap continued. The 29-year-old earned his maiden India call up back in 2022 on the tour to Bangladesh but hasn’t been able to find a place in the starting XI.

ENG vs IND 1st Test Day 1 Updates

Easwaran was in terrific form in the last domestic season where he piled on runs for his teams in the Duleep, Irani and the Ranji Trophy. His scores during the season read as 127*, 191, 116, 19, 157*, 13, 4, 200*, 72, 65. In his first class career so far, the Bengal batter has scored 7841 runs from 103 matches at an average of 48.70 with 27 hundreds and 31 fifties.

Despite his years of toiling hard in the domestic circuit, Sai Sudharsan was preferred ahead of him in the playing XI. The 23-year-old has played 29 matches in his first-class career so far and accumulated 1957 runs at an average of 39.93 with seven centuries and five fifties.

The Tamil Nadu batter also had a prolific season in the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025), where he registered 759 runs from 15 innings and won the Orange Cap. Sudharsan’s recent form may have tilted the balance in his favour, which irked a section of fans on social media. It remains to be seen if Sudharsan makes the most of the opportunity and leaves a mark in his very first Test.

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna