“Amazing journey” – Rishabh Pant reacts to Abhimanyu Easwaran’s rise after 151 not out in the 2024 Irani Cup

Rishabh Pant has praised Abhimanyu Easwaran for his remarkable journey following Easwaran’s unbeaten 151 in the Irani Cup match between Rest of India and Mumbai at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, on Thursday, October 3. Pant’s admiration came after former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) director Joy Bhattacharjya highlighted Easwaran’s impressive first-class career.

Easwaran’s innings of 151 runs off 212 balls, which included a six and 12 boundaries, marked his third consecutive century in first-class matches. The 29-year-old also notched 157* and 116 in the 2024 Duleep Trophy, and earlier this year, he registered an unbeaten double-century against Bihar in the Ranji Trophy.

Sharing details of Easwaran’s rise on X (formerly Twitter), Bhattacharjya recounted how his cricket journey began in Dehradun, where Easwaran’s father, Ranganathan, founded a cricket academy inspired by a Mahabharata character. Abhimanyu moved to Kolkata at age 10 to further his cricketing aspirations under coach Nirmal Sengupta. After nine years and over 5,000 first-class runs, Easwaran joined the India ‘A’ squad and scored back-to-back centuries in Bangladesh, earning a spot in the Test squad after Rohit Sharma’s injury.

Bhattacharjya further described Easwaran’s comeback after a tough series against the England Lions, where he managed only 94 runs in four innings. His recent performances, including a double century and two hundreds in five matches, underscore his resurgence, with Bhattacharjya noting: “This Abhimanyu has made his comeback!”

Reacting to the post, Pant wrote, “Amazing journey.”

Easwaran has amassed 7,466 runs in 98 first-class matches, including 26 centuries and 29 half-centuries. Despite being included in the India squad for the 2021 tours of England and South Africa, he is still awaiting his Test debut.

In a 2023 interview with ESPNcricinfo, Easwaran remained optimistic despite being overlooked for the national team, saying, “I’m taking it in a positive way… If I can keep putting in the work, I’m still pretty close, I could get picked soon.”