'Fragile' Nair, Sudharsan only red flags for Ganguly, ex-BCCI chief wants Gambhir to place his bets on uncapped batter

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was impressed with the batting performance in the recently concluded Test series against England, but flagged one major concern — the No. 3 spot. Ganguly indicated he wasn’t satisfied with how Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan handled the role, and urged head coach Gautam Gambhir to back uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran for the position, with India set to face the West Indies in a two-match Test series in October. Sourav Ganguly had his say on the No. 3 batting spot in Indian Test line-up

During the England series, captain Shubman Gill moved to No. 4 to fill the void left by Virat Kohli’s retirement, leaving No. 3 up for grabs. India tested two options, but neither impressed. Sudharsan scored 140 runs at 23.33 in six innings, with one fifty, while Nair managed 111 runs at 27.75 in four innings, without a half-century.

Speaking to The Times of India, Ganguly said Easwaran, the only batter in the squad not to get a game in the series, deserves a chance at No. 3.

“He has age on his side. I still believe he will get his chance. I feel batters like Yashasvi, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja have all got runs. It’s only the No. 3 slot that looked a bit fragile. Maybe Easwaran will be tried there,” Ganguly said.

Recently, Abhimanyu's father revealed that Gambhir has assured the Indian batter of a fair chance. The Bengal batter has been waiting to earn his debut cap for India since earning his first official call-up to the Indian squad in 2022.

"Gautam Gambhir, when he spoke to my son, he assured him see you you're doing the right kind of things you'll get your turn you'll get a long run. I'm not the one who will push you out after one or two matches. I'll give you a long rope. That's what my son communicated to me. The entire coaching team assured him that he'll get his due, he'll get his long run. That's the best I can say. My son is waiting for 4 years, He's put in 23 years of hard work," Ranganathan Easwaran said in an interview with Vickey Lalwani on his YouTube channel.

Abhimanyu will next be seen in action in the Duleep Trophy, where he will lead the East Zone side. The domestic tournament will offer him a shot at proving himself for the West Indies series.

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