Abhinav’s back to Tests after 6 years

Abhinav Mukund is back in the national Test squad after six years. The Tamil Nadu player has been roped in as a third opener in the squad for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, starting in Hyderabad from February 9. The last time the left-hander donned the whites was at the Nottingham Test against England in August 2011.

According to Abhinav, BCCI chief selector, M.S.K Prasad, had told him he had been on the radar. “Prasad had a conversation with me during the Ranji Trophy. He said I was in the fray for the national team. No selector had spoken to me before; this selection committee has come up to me and informed me it is keeping a close watch. I’m working hard and continuing to do what I do best,” said Abhinav who is currently representing Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.

The 27-year-old said the immediate change in format when he would lead India ‘A’ in a warmup match against Bangladesh on February 5 would not be a problem and said these were normal demands of professional cricketers nowadays. “I will train a bit with the red ball to get back into the groove. Not being prepared is no excuse. Right after the Irani Trophy I had two days to prepare; I put in a lot of work before this tournament. It will be the same for the Bangladesh warm-up Test as well,” added the Tamil Nadu Ranji captain.

Abhinav richly deserves the call-up, for he has been in stellar form in recent times. “Some people tend to question my ability to hit the ball far. But I feel it is not about what other people think of me,” he said. Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), K. L. Rahul, M. Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, Wrddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.

Selector MSK Prasad had a conversation with me during the Ranji Trophy. He said I was in the fray for the national team. No selector had spoken to me before. —ABHINAV MUKUND, Tamil Nadu opener