Playing for the Indian National Team is not easy, when the competition is very high. Almost 90% of Indian kid wishes to represent India in cricket. But, only a few gets selected. And there is a reason behind that, when you are in country like India, where there are 1.3 billion people, you have to be very best and life is all about a chance, if you do not use it you might end up losing.
India have seen many good players in domestic circuits, who had the power to smash the ball easily. But, their destiny didn’t wish the same. So, here is a list of 5 players who were part of Indian Squad, but never got a chance.
1. Ishwar Pandey
The highest wicket-taker in the 2012/13 Ranji Trophy was Ishwar Pandey with 48 wickets in eight matches. In addition to being a trainee at the MRF Pace Academy, the 6’2″ bowler possessed the ability to swing the ball at 130 kmph. After being selected for New Zealand’s 2014 tour, Pandey was disappointed not to be able to play throughout the tour. As part of the 2014 IPL auctions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) also acquired the pacer. Ishwar Pandey journey is very Inspirational, he played for CSK and won several big games for the defending champions. He is currently playing for Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket and is promoting protein brands across the country.
2. Ranadeb Bose
Ranadeb Bose had an opportunity to be selected for the England tour of India in 2007 thanks to his superior bowling performance on the domestic circuit. While playing in the 2006/07 Ranji Trophy, Bengal pacer had a strike rate of 39.4 and collected 57 wickets from eight games. However, the then 28-year-old was overlooked for the playing XI in favor of RP Singh, Zaheer Khan, and S Sreesanth.
3. Basil Thampi
The selectors also noticed pacer Basil Thampi after he won the emerging player of the season award in the IPL 2017. Despite being picked to play against Sri Lanka for the T20 series in 2017, Thampi couldn’t make an impact because inexperienced bowlers like Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar and Jaydev Unadkat were preferred. Kerala cricketer thwarted his chances of earning a spot in Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and was dropped from the India A team. In successive seasons, he only picked up six wickets in eight games.
4. Dheeraj Jadhav
In the 2003/04 Ranji Trophy, Dheeraj Jadhav amassed 1066 runs in just 12 innings.
A call-up to the national team in the 2004 4th Test against Australia at home was a result of his batting brilliance but he did not break in because Gautam Gambhir was given the nod. At the inter-state tournaments, Jadhav kept on besieging his opponents with his bat. Gambhir and Virender Sehwag cemented their positions as Indian team openers, despite the efforts of the former openers. During his 111 matches in the First-class, he amassed 7679 runs before retiring in 2015.
5. Deepak Hooda
The same T20 series that Thampi played against Sri Lanka in 2017 was also selected for Deepak Hooda, but he warmed the bench. Additionally, he was considered for the Nidahas trophy but didn’t make the cut. In the IPL, Hooda appeared in 76 games and scored 741 runs at a strike rate of 131.38. With the help of a half-century, Hooda scored 116 runs in 8 matches for Punjab Kings in IPL 2021, which was postponed recently.
So, as Justin Langer said, “you’ve to be best to play for a country like India” it is quite understandable that what meant. These were the players whose fortune didn’t play very well and they missed out the opportunity to play for India.