"If Rohit Sharma goes, an opener has to come" - Aakash Chopra on Indian batter who wasn't given a chance in BGT 2024-25

Former player Aakash Chopra is unsure whether Team India will look at Abhimanyu Easwaran as a potential Test opener going forward. He pointed out that a third opener, along with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, will be required once Rohit Sharma retires from the longest format.

India suffered a 1-3 defeat against Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. Although Easwaran was part of the Indian squad, he didn't feature in the playing XI in any of the five Tests.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel' Aakash Chopra', the cricketer-turned-commentator picked a few batters who could potentially be in India's scheme of things for Tests. He wasn't convinced about Easwaran being in the Indian think tank's thoughts.

"There were two domestic performers with the team during BGT but weren't given a single chance. One was Abhimanyu Easwaran and the second was Sarfaraz Khan. They saw Abhimanyu Easwaran in the India A matches. They didn't like him and he was discarded," Chopra said (1:45).

"He was declared a failure without being given a chance, which is a little sad, but this is the reality. Abhimanyu Easwaran is 29 years old. I don't know whether the Indian team will look towards him again or not. However, let's be very honest, if Rohit Sharma goes, an opener has to come," the former India batter added.

Chopra opined that Easwaran should be considered if first-class performances are given weightage.

"Who will open with Yashasvi? Will you keep continuing with KL Rahul? Of course, you can continue for now because he has done well recently, but can you give the third opener's role to Abhimanyu Easwaran? He should be thought about. What is the point if you ignore performances in first-class cricket so quickly?" he observed.

Abhimanyu Easwaran has amassed 7,674 runs at an average of 48.87 in 101 first-class games. However, he had an indifferent run in the two unofficial Tests between India A and Australia A, aggregating 36 runs at an average of 9.00 in four innings.

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"Sarfaraz was also there with Abhimanyu Easwaran" - Aakash Chopra on the other Indian batter not given a chance in BGT 2024-25

Sarfaraz Khan has represented India in six Tests. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Sarfaraz Khan was treated similarly in BGT 2024-25.

"The same is true for Sarfaraz. On one hand, we are asking everyone to play domestic cricket, but are not thinking about those who have done well. Sarfaraz was also there with Abhimanyu Easwaran. To be fair, Sarfaraz has a Test century as well, but he wasn't given even a single chance despite the batting failing in Australia," he said (2:45).

The former India opener pointed out that while Dhruv Jurel played in the first Test in Perth, Sarfaraz was ignored throughout the series despite his outstanding record in first-class cricket.

"Dhruv Jurel played but Sarfaraz didn't. The entire exercise becomes slightly flawed if we are not going to rate first-class performances. I have mentioned these two, but it's dependent a lot on what the team management and coaches are thinking about them going forward," Chopra observed.

Sarfaraz Khan has scored 371 runs at an average of 37.10 in six Tests. He has amassed 4,593 runs at an average of 65.61 in 54 first-class games.