The team management is apparently unsure of Easwaran's ability to bat in challenging English conditions and he has looked scrappy in the practice sessions. Rahul is being looked at more as a middle-order option should Cheteshwar Pujara or Ajinkya Rahane struggle to get runs.
"The team management has to be clear about its vision. The selectors have always heeded to the team management's demands when it came to composition of the squad. The team was picked in presence of captain Virat Kohli. The management needed to be clear about its plan when it came to how they wanted to use the players who were picked. Rahul was picked as an opener. If they had change of plans, they should have communicated it clearly," a BCCI official told TOI.