Known for his meticulous preparation, India-B skipper and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran may not have had the ideal preparation coming into the ongoing Duleep Trophy.
He had to spend time at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), recovering from a hamstring injury. Post recovery, he had little preparation focusing on just getting match-ready.
“I was at the NCA for about two and a half months, and then I went to my Bengal team’s camp. There, I batted and basically the preparation was just getting into match zone. I also played a practice match,” he said after the second-round match versus India-C at the Rural Development Trust (RDT) Stadium B-ground here on Sunday.
He couldn’t quite hit the straps straightaway in the first-round match against India-A at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, but he got into the groove here by adhesively sticking to the crease.
“We played the first game and I didn’t get runs there. But it was just about getting back to my process, just trying to play one ball at a time, and keeping it very simple. Because, I felt the wicket (here) looked really good to bat on and if I can keep things simple, it will work for me,” he said.
India B’s Abhimanyu Easwaran plays in action against India C during the Duleep Trophy 2024. | Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B/ The Hindu
It worked, indeed. He’d applied himself to the extent that he carried his bat with an unbeaten 157 (286b, 14x4, 1x6), though his team was shot out for 332 and made to concede a 193-run first-innings lead. His innings was marked by attrition and single-mindedness. Wickets kept falling and there were fleeting moments when the bowlers seemed to have an edge over him, but come what may, he was simply unsusceptible. He wore the bowlers down by batting through the third day and steered his team to safety by ensuring that it cannot lose from there.
“We knew we had a big target to chase down (India-C had piled on 525 in its first innings). We were just planning to get a couple of big partnerships and we knew if that came through, we would chase this down because we felt we had enough depth in our batting. We started pretty well. Jagadeesan played really well for his 70 (137b, 8x4).
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“But after that, we didn’t get another big partnership we were looking for. I felt if I could stay at one end and just have that one big partnership with someone, we could get through. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. It happens in cricket, but we’ll try and make sure that we come back stronger in the next game,” he said.
The biggest takeaway for him is that he was able to bat for a long time having returned from an injury.
“To be able to bat for a long period after my injury was good. I could bat for a day and a little more. So, I really enjoyed spending time in the middle, and I think it’ll give me confidence for the next game as well,” he said.
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