I feel for Abhinav Mukund, could've given him more opportunities: MSK Prasad

Former India chief selector MSK Prasad has admitted that the Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund should’ve got more chances during his tenure at the helm. Mukund was churning out runs for fun in domestic cricket and opened in an odd Test for India as well. But he was only the replacement for preferred players at that time and was sidelined once they were back.

Mukund made his Test debut for India in 2011 against West Indies in Kingston and last featured for the country back in 2017 against Sri Lanka at Galle. But during this period, the southpaw played only 7 Tests and has been out of the team for last four years. At the age of 31, it seems there is no way back for him with India grooming the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill to open in Tests for a long period.

Moreover, even currently Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal are very much part of the side and there seems to be no way back for Mukund. Touching upon the same point, MSK Prasad felt that the left-hander from Tamil Nadu deserved more chances and every time he thinks of him, feels the same.

“I feel for Abhinav Mukund. It’s one of the worries when you sleep, you feel you could have given an opportunity to him longer. Maybe we could have, these guys have been exceptional in domestic and India A cricket,” MSK Prasad said while speaking to Cricbuzz Plus.

Abhinav Mukund – One of the best openers

Though Abhinav Mukund’s Test average of 22.85 after seven matches doesn’t look good, it should be noted that he was never given a long rope. He was in and out of the Indian side always and got an odd game here and there with no guarantee over his spot in the team. Overall, he could only muster 320 runs in 14 innings with two fifties.

Having said that, the left-hander is still a beast in domestic cricket. Mukund has scored 10258 runs in 145 first-class matches so far at an impeccable average of close to 48 with 31 centuries and 37 half-centuries. His highest-score of 300* proves that Mukund was always in for long haul and deserved more chances at the highest level.