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India are white ball champions and it is a great achievement — but what about the openers’ slots for T20 and ODI teams. The congestion is so bad that even Shubman Gill doesn’t have a place in T20 team and even Yashasvi Jaiswal isn’t a regular ODI player. Then, what about an opener like Sai Sundershan? He has done well in T20 for Gujarat Titans and won’t it be a fair deal to try him as an opener for T20 first before pushing him into Test cricket?
Or just because there is a lack of slots in white ball teams, Sai is expected to be a back-up opener for the England Test series. What about those players like Abhimanyu Eshwaran, who have scored so heavily at the domestic cricket, who are not even a talking point?
The Indian white-ball teams are stacked with elite top-order talent — Rohit Sharma, Gill, Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson — this congestion means that even incredibly promising players like Sai — who may find it hard to break into the T20I or ODI XIs right away. It’s not necessarily a reflection of their quality, but more about the pecking order and existing hierarchy.
Just because Sai has scored runs in IPL, is his eligibility for the Test team as a back-up opener valid?
What about Easwaran, who is the classic case of someone who has done everything asked of him in red-ball cricket — tons of runs in the Ranji Trophy and solid India A performances?
Just that his style is more suited to Tests, and ironically, he has never been tested. There’s no clear slot unless an injury opens the door, which happened in Australia — wherein Eshwaran could have played in place of Rohit, who was on paternity leave during the opening Test match in Perth itself.
But the team management dialled for Devdutt Padikkal who was not even in the original Test team announced for the series. Players like Easwaran suffer because the system currently lacks a robust pathway from domestic cricket to the national team, especially when younger or IPL-backed players leapfrog based on perceived “higher ceiling” or media buzz.
There is also a valid and increasingly common frustration among the domestic cricketers. The purpose of domestic cricket—Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and others—is not just to keep the pipeline active but to reward consistent performers and build confidence in the system. When players like Easwaran consistently perform and even serve as backup options for India A or in senior team tours, yet don’t get proper elevation, it undermines the credibility of the domestic structure.
The challenge is the limited slots—especially in a settled or semi-settled national side. But that doesn’t justify the lack of transparency or follow-through. There should at least be clear communication or rotational opportunities (like giving such players chances in second-string or bilateral series) to show the system is merit-based.
You can’t simply discuss a player without even giving him a match. Easwaran was the back-up opener when India went to Australia and the buzz is that Sai could be the back-up opener when India team travels to England. Can this ever change? Won’t it or it won’t?
