BGT 2024-25: 3 India squad players who didn't get a place in the playing XI

17 Indian players featured in the playing XI during the BGT 2024-25.

India’s hopes of reaching the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final were dashed with their loss in the fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 test match in Sydney.

This result at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) meant that Australia finally managed to win a test series over India after a decade, having endured four series losses in a row against the Asian giants, including twice at home. Pat Cummins’ team also sealed their place in the ICC WTC 2023-25 final.

India started the series on a thumping note with a 295-run win in Perth, but then suffered losses in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney to lose their grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after eight years.

India used as many as 17 players in the five test matches in Australia, and one of them retired mid-series. During the course of the series, they had to add two players to their original 18-man squad. So of the 20 players who were part of India’s squad in this series, three of them didn’t get a chance of feature in the playing XI.

BGT 2024-25: 3 India squad players who didn’t get a place in the playing XI

Abhimanyu Easwaran

Abhimanyu Easwaran would feel hard done by as he was picked in the squad as a back-up opener, but didn’t get the opportunity even when India needed an opener in the first test in Perth in Rohit Sharma’s absence.

Instead, KL Rahul was asked to open and he fared brilliantly, thus retaining his place in the side. Rahul was highly impressive in Adelaide and Brisbane as well, and may have also cemented his place in the side for the test tour of England later in the year.

Easwaran, who averages 48 in 101 First-Class (FC) cricket matches, gave a poor impression in the two matches against Australia A ahead of the Perth test. He managed scores of 7, 12, 0, and 17. Hence, the management didn’t trust him to make a test debut in Perth.

Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz Khan had hit a 150-run splendid knock in the first test against New Zealand in Pune while batting in the middle-order. But then, he returned with scores of 11, 9, 0, and 1 against the Kiwis.

India trusted Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal to play in the Perth test when Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were unavailable. Then the duo returned and Sarfaraz had clearly slipped down the pecking order behind Jurel due to his apparent weaknesses against high pace and extra bounce.

He might still get selected for the England tour given his ability to score at a quick rate.

Tanush Kotian (Part of last 2 tests only)

Tanush Kotian, a 26-year-old off-spinning all-rounder from Mumbai, was flown to Australia after the third test following the sudden retirement of Ravi Ashwin.

However, with Washington Sundar in the side, Kotian didn’t get a chance in the last two tests.

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