Cricket is a game of uncertainties. It has seen many remarkable players who came from a timid background but conquered the cricketing world with their tremendous skills. However, there are cricketers who despite being equally gifted as many, couldn’t make it big. Let’s look at the Top 10 Cricketers who fell short of making their mark in the Cricketing World.
1. Unmukt Chand
Former India U-19 grabbed the spotlight after leading the India U-19 Team to ICC U-19 World Cup Victory. He was seen as the next Virat Kohli since both of them were from Delhi. He had an aggressive batting style and were top order batsmen who won the U-19 World Cup. He performed at the junior level which got him a spot in the senior team, but with time he went on becoming a mediocre player from a prodigy, and his fate did not favor him either. Despite showcasing a good performance, he could not cement his place in the Domestic Team. And, he lost his IPL contract and was sacked from Captaincy of the Delhi Team.
2. Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer is the legend of Domestic Cricket. He is the highest individual scorer in Irani Cup and the fifth batsman to score double ton at the age of 40. He is one of the prolific run getters in the Ranji Trophy. However, he failed to score runs in his initial games at the international level, though he scored a century and a double century while playing against England. The fact that he was not as flamboyant as Sehwag or Gambhir and they probably tilted the fortunes against him.
3. Vinod Kambli
It is often said that he was considered a better player than Tendulkar but got caught in the vicious circle of glamour. His career took off to a flying start; he scored two double centuries and three consecutive hundreds against three different rivals. Kambli received numerous chances for ODIs, but averaged less than 20 in all of them and hence he could not handle the requirements of ODIs and got lost in the oblivion.
4. Rohan Gavaskar
Widely known for being his father’s son, Rohan Gavaskar is the son of Sunil Gavaskar. His consistent performance at the domestic level earned him a spot in India A and then in the Indian Cricket Team. In his 11 ODIs he failed to make his mark as a batsman with an average of 18.87. Rohan was an aggressive left-hand batsman and was more into the shorter format of the game. He is also seen as a product of nepotism by netizens.
5. Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel one of the youngest wicket keepers to make a debut for the Indian Cricket Team. Parthiv would bat at no. 7 or 8 but was not impactful with the bat, and then Dhoni burst onto the scene. With intense and rising competition, he lost his place in the team. Nevertheless, he continued performing well at the domestic level and led Gujarat to its first-ever Ranji Trophy Triumph in 2018.
6. Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan made his debut at the age of 19 and was seen as the next big thing in Indian Cricket and was compared to Wasim Akram. One of the reasons for his downfall, as revealed by him in an interview, was his remodeled bowling action. He switched to a more conventional grip and dropped a bit of pace but then the international batsmen sorted him out easily. This decision cost him his slot in the Indian Cricket Team.
7. Sreesanth
Sreesanth dismissed Tendulkar in the 2005 NPK Salve Challenger Trophy and dared to sled the ‘little master’. He was consistent with his bowling performance in the shorter format of the game. With his ability to swing the ball both ways at a good pace he would pester the batsman to death. He was recognized as the second-best swing bowler after Zaheer Khan. In 2013 he was accused of being involved in a Spot Fixing Scandal during the IPL, which ultimately led to his downfall with BCCI imposing a life ban on him.
8. Mohammed Kaif
Mohammed Kaif, renowned for his match-winning inning at NatWest Final, was expected to go places. He made his ODI debut in 2002 and played 35 innings, exhibiting a middling performance. One of the probable reasons for his mediocrity is the lack of flamboyance was what made him less noticeable, and he ended up being an ordinary player.
9. Amol Mazumdar
Amol Mazumdar was touted as the next prodigy of Indian cricket but he has not played a single international game. He has racked up more than 11,000 runs in first-class cricket. Despite being a consistent performer, he never got picked in the Indian Cricket Team, because the spots in the longer format were already occupied by proficient cricketers like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar.
10. Pankaj Singh
One of the most terrific Domestic bowlers, Pankaj Singh, was a vital bowler of the Rajasthan Domestic Team. However, he picked only two wickets in two tests that he played for India. He made his test debut for India at the age of 29 and got only two games to prove his worth. He was picked by Rajasthan Royals and then Royal Challengers Bangalore, but his IPL career did not take off well, as he was hammered by the batsmen and went unpicked for the rest of the season.
