Kolkata, May 24 (IANS) Following the news of his former disciple, Abhimanyu Easwaran getting called up to India’s Test squad for their tour of England, his childhood coach Nirmal Sengupta said he was optimistic about the right-handed batter getting a spot in the playing XI and revealed his students consider Abhimanyu as an idol and example.

Abhimanyu shifted to Kolkata at the age of 10, and it was Nirmal’s tutelage that helped him grow and develop, not only as a cricketer but as a person as well. The 29-year-old stayed with his coach in the ‘Donga’ district during his time in Kolkata and often attributed his success to the coach.

“Every coach dreams of his student playing for the India team. I too felt great. Abhimanyu got a place in the national team today. He has been practising with me for 10-15 years. I am very optimistic that he will get to play, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s absence, and he will give his best for the national team. He was travelling to England for the India ‘A’ series and called me earlier today to let me know he was selected.

“(On his message to his students) The example is right in front of your eyes, how he was groomed to become a player for India at this very ground. For me, the idols were Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly, but for these kids, Abhimanyu Easwaran is their idol,” Nirmal Sengupta told IANS.

Easwaran was a member of the Indian team during their 3-1 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series loss in Australia, but didn’t get to play a single game.

He 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 will captain the side for the two warm-up games against the England Lions, from May 30-June 2 in Canterbury and June 6-9 in Northampton, and one intra-squad match against the senior India Test squad being played from June 13-16 in Beckenham.

–IANS

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