Entering your country's cricket team is just the start of a prosperous career. Nonetheless, there are cricketers who, despite having promising starts to their careers, lost their way after being given the chance to participate at the international level and make it to the national side. Some cricketers, though, achieved fame after retiring from the sport.
1. Akash Chopra
Between 2003 and 2004, Chopra participated in 10 Test matches for India, recording 437 runs at an average of 23 and just two half-centuries. In the end, he was benched against Australia at home in late 2004 and was never summoned back. He is currently doing cricket analysis in Hindi for Viacom18. He writes columns and is a YouTuber as well. Despite the briefness of his international cricket career, he is already very well-known.
2. Sanjay Manjrekar
His peak came during the challenging foreign tours to the West Indies and Pakistan in 1989, where he was praised for his tenacity and good batting technique against two of the best bowling units in the world, emerging from them as the tour's top batsman. Regrettably, the curve quickly flattened out, and after five years of poor play, he even started to lose his spot on the team. He currently travels the globe as a highly sought-after TV analyst and commentator and has a love-hate connection with athletes.
3. Vinod Kambli
In just his second Test after making his Test debut against England in 1993, Kambli had a fairytale start to his long-format career by smoking a blistering double-ton. He then scored another double hundred against Zimbabwe before going off for a hundred against Sri Lanka, making him the only batsman to reach that mark against three different opponents. Unfortunately, his honeymoon period quickly ended as he was quickly exposed in 1994 by the West Indies pacers against hard lengths.
4. Ajay Jadeja
Jadeja was the Indian team's vice-captain and possessed all the necessary traits to serve as the team's captain. Nevertheless, things quickly got out of hand when he was one of those identified in a CBI probe on match-fixing. The BCCI imposed a 5-year suspension from all versions of the game even though no proof could ever be uncovered. Jadeja filed an appeal, and the Delhi High Court overturned the ban, restoring Jadeja's eligibility to play both domestic and international cricket. But the damage was done, and Jadeja never even considered donning the India cap once more.
5. Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan made waves with his ability to move the ball quickly and in both directions during the Indian team's 2003–04 trip to Australia. Even more powerful was the fact that he could instantly nail the yorker. He later remade himself as a seam-bowling all-rounder, putting up excellent performances during the 2007 T20 World Cup and the ensuing tour of Australia, where he contributed greatly with both bat and ball to India's victory in the Perth Test. He was, however, omitted from the Test squad for the home series against South Africa and was never again given serious consideration.
6. Ambati Rayudu
Some can argue that Rayudu's international career was unlucky. In terms of statistics, he performed well in ODIs even if his strike rate wasn't all that high. This is a sharp contrast from the unstoppable stroke maker he was when he initially came onto the scene. Rayudu declared his retirement from cricket after being overlooked despite the World Cup injuries to two Indian players. Before the World Cup, Rayudu was classified among the reserves for the Indian cricket team.
7. Stuart Binny
Binny's cause was propelled by the 2013 IPL, as he displayed his versatility in the premier T20 competition. Even though it was anticipated that Binny would play white-ball cricket, he was given a few Test opportunities and even scored a match-saving fifty at Nottingham in 2014. Apart from his record-breaking numbers of 6/4 against Bangladesh, which continues to be the best ODI bowling figures by an Indian, Binny's performances lacked much of a spark. Nonetheless, India required players with a variety of skills, therefore he was selected for a period before being dropped. His father currently serves as BCCI's president.
8. Prakash Poddar
Indian first-class cricketer Prakash Chandra Poddar represented the Bengal and Rajasthan cricket teams. He worked for the Board of Control for Cricket in India as a Talent Resource Development Officer after retiring from playing.
9. Robin Uthappa
After making his dream debut for Team India against England in early 2006, where he hammered a blistering 86, Robin Uthappa was a flashy cricketer equipped with the ability to take down attackers with both traditional and unorthodox cricketing skills. Uthappa supported it with some significant innings at the 2007 T20 World Cup after helping India bat down a total of over 300 during the 2007 NatWest Trophy. However, after the 2008 Asia Cup, his performance suffered, and Uthappa lost his place on the national team as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rose to prominence.
10. Pragyan Ojha
During the 2009 home series against Sri Lanka, Ojha made his Test debut. Over the following four years, he went on to take a total of 113 wickets at an average of 30.27. As Harbhajan Singh was released from the Test team in 2011, Ojha and R. Ashwin started to successfully form a partnership. Nine times in the 2011–12 season, he claimed five or more wickets. In the 2012 series against England, which India lost 1-2, he also had the most wickets. However, Ojha quickly lost his position as Ashwin's top partner in the Test team when Ravindra Jadeja rose to prominence.
