New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran is slated to miss Bengal’s upcoming Ranji Trophy matches due to a fracture on the middle finger of his right hand. Easwaran was a member of the Indian team during their 3-1 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, but didn’t get to play a single game.

Sources have told on Sunday that Easwaran sustained the fracture while playing a club match in the CAB league and that the recovery time is currently at a minimum of three weeks.

Easwaran, 29, has scored 7674 runs in 101 first-class matches at an average of 48.87, with 27 centuries and 29 half-centuries and a highest score of 233. He has been a regular of the India A team and even captained them in some games.

After the fifth Test in Sydney ended early, Easwaran flew quickly to Vadodara and featured in Bengal’s pre-quarter final match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he made 10 as Haryana won by 72 runs.

His absence leaves a big void for Bengal at the top of the batting order, ahead of hosting Haryana and Punjab in their Elite Group C home matches of the Ranji Trophy.

In the points table, Bengal are at third place with 14 points from five matches, behind top-ranked Haryana (20 points) and Kerala (18 points).

The upcoming round of the Ranji Trophy will see players like Ravindra Jadeja (Saurashtra), Rishabh Pant (Delhi), Shubman Gill (Punjab), Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal (both Mumbai) turning out for their respective state teams, while KL Rahul and Virat Kohli are out due to varied niggles.

This comes after the BCCI apparently introduced a 10-point policy document making participation in domestic cricket mandatory and that non-compliance could impact international selection and central contract renewals.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS

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