Delhi Capitals, already in panic before the flop show of their Indian domestic batsmen, called the uncapped pair of Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyam Garg for trial on Wednesday. Such has been the form of Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, and Lalit Yadav that the DC management has been forced to look at players who are known to be red-ball specialists, such as India A ‘Test’ captain Easwaran.
An IPL source tracking DC’s developments told PTI on the condition of anonymity, “The max squad strength is 25 and DC has max squad strength. Now whether they will replace anyone or not is not known.
The only player with poor fitness is Khaleel Ahmed, who has a hamstring injury. But DC is hoping that Khaleel will be fit in time.
The panic in Delhi’s ranks is understandable. Easwaran, who is also not considered good for 50-over cricket and has played only 27 T20 domestic matches in his 10-year career, has been called for a trial.
As an opener, a strike rate of 121 is not impressive enough and the century he scored came against a northeastern state.
Former India U-19 captain Garg is in a comparatively better position as he has two IPL seasons behind him.
However, an average of 17 and a strike rate of 115 in 44 T20 matches is nothing to write about either.
Easwaran had gone unsold in the last few seasons, while Garg too had no takers after being released by SRH.
Meanwhile, Kamlesh Nagerkoti has suffered a back injury and will likely see a batsman in Thursday’s game. Nagarkoti, in any case, was not in contention.
Since the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, he has spent most of his time at the National Cricket Academy, rehabbing and playing little domestic cricket.