"IPL Heroes And Two-Game Wonders...": Mohammad Kaif's Big Statement On India Selection

Former India batter Mohammed Kaif heaped praise on Easwaran, saying that players who are continuously grinding it out in the domestic circuit and performing well, should be given preference, when it comes to national selection, instead of two-game wonders from the Indian Premier League.

Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has been a run-machine in the domestic circuit, was called up as India captain Rohit Sharma's replacement for the first Test against Bangladesh, which starts on Wednesday, December 14. Rohit failed to recover from a thumb, which he had suffered while fielding during the second ODI against Bangladesh last week. However, the man who will replace him, Easwaran, has been knocking on the India selection doors, for quite a while now.

Former India batter Mohammed Kaif heaped praise on Easwaran, saying that players who are continuously grinding it out in the domestic circuit and performing well, should be given preference, when it comes to national selection, instead of two-game wonders from the Indian Premier League.

"Abhimanyu Easwaran scored back-to-back centuries for India 'A' recently. He captains Bengal in the domestic circuit and has been performing there as well. Players like him, who are continuously scoring runs, should get in the team. IPL heroes and two-game wonders shouldn't be selected for the Indian team on the basis of IPL performances. Players from domestic cricket, who are scoring hundreds for the last four-five years, will get selected for sure," Kaif told NDTV during an interaction organised by the Sony Sports Network.

Easwaran, who was born in Dehradun, made his First-Class debut for Bengal way back in 2013.

The 27-year-old was named captain of the team ahead of the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season, after Manoj Tiwary had decided to step down.