Forgotten Indian Crickets: Part Two

So lets look back at some of the players who had the promise and hype to make India a super team -

OPENING BATSMEN

SS Das - Good openers are like rare gems in the Indian cricketing establishment. And this little fella was praised by the great Sunny Gavaskar himself. A short statured batter, Das seemed to be opener material with solid defense and technique against fast bowling. He had a promising start to his role but he didn’t convert his starts into big scores when he had the chance and when the runs ran dry, the selectors left him out cold.

Sadagoppan Ramesh - A free flowing batsmen when on song, his inconsistent performances drove selectors up the wall and after that wretched tour of Aus 1999, where he broke his finger courtesy a express delivery from Brett Lee (which he played with his eyes closed) he was briefly set packing away. He was given another lease of life around 2001 where he played a decent hand against Australia tour of India 2001
But soon his lack of big innings and his clumsy technique and footwork proved exasperating and the selectors had other openers they decided to give a look.

Vinayak Mane - Opener from mumbai. Putting up Tendulkar like numbers in the domestic scene. Got his chance against Australia at mumbai in 2001 but his poor performances silenced his hype and has been left out of national reckoning ever since.

Vikram Rathore - The great hype from Harayana. Embarrassing tour of england in 96 relegated him back to the domestic circuit

Sujith Somasundar - Captain of the succesful Karnataka ranji victories in the 90's. This opener was once thought to be "on par" with Rahul Dravid. Sometimes timing decides all. Que sera sera.

Wasim Jaffer - On again off again Mumbai opener. Was given opportunities till a couple years ago so he may still make a comeback. However given his inconsistency and lazy technique against the new ball I wouldn't expect to see him around too soon.

Akash Chopra - Now Chopra was a genuinely good opener from Delhi who played a crucial role in India's fine performance against Australia in 2004. For some inexplicable reason was left out by selectors and has been considered since. A real tragedy.

Devang Gandhi - Another allegedly opener of "promise" who quickly became undone in the nightmarish tour of Aus 99.

Robin Uthappa - This aggressive opener was seen as the next big thing in Indian cricket. But after a series of mixed results he sits on the sidelines. May still be part of India's T20 and ODI plans.


Middle Order

Traditionally the strength of Indian cricket, thru' the 1990's there were plenty gaps which needed filling. Here were some of the notable nominees -

Pravin Amre - A solid Middle order batsmen from MP who had a dream start to his test career with a century on debut on tour of SA. However a string of poor scores put his nervous crease digging days to an end.

Jacob Martin - A decent middle order batter, another victim of the intensive cleanup after the disastrous tour of Aus 1999

Hrishikesh Kanitkar - See above. Will forever be remembered for sweeping Saqlain Mushtaq to the boundary off last ball with India chasing down a then record 312 runs to beat arch rivals Pakistan under failing light in B'desh circa 98.

Atul Bedade - Master blaster from Mumbai. India's middle order answer to S. Jayasuriya. Left hand hitter known to whack the cricket ball with obscene power. That is if he ever connected bat on ball. Soon his hit or miss ways took its toll on his international ODI career

Venugopal Rao - Part of Greg Chappell's youth brigade who found themselves out of favor once the controversial head coach was sacked. Decent enough player though.

Hemang Badani - Once a mainstay of Indian ODI team. A good fielder and excellent lower middle order batsmen who prided on being a finisher a la Michael Bevan. Just one of those players who were swapped out for somebody newer and never quite re-established into the national team

Mohammed Kaif - See above. Excellent fielder and along with Y.Singh brought a certain vigor into the Indian infield. His Man-of-the-match performance in 2002 Natwest finals where his unbeaten 89 helped India win a famous victory. A victory which I personally feel helped India gain confidence in their own ODI ability. Sadly he never established a fixed batting spot in the line up and soon his inconsistent scoring allowed other players to push him out of the team.

Sridharan Sriram - Once proclaimed as one of the best batsmen produced by Tamil Nadu this wooden lefthander just couldn't’t cut it in the big world of intl cricket.

Amay Khurasia - The lion of MP domestic cricket. Another case of an Indian cricketer not quite ready for the intl stuff.

Sanjay Manjrekar - Given the kind of start he had to his career in the late 80's, it was expected that Manjrekar along with Tendulkar and Azhar would form the backbone of Indian Middle order for years to come. Sadly this never came to be. After a lackluster tour of Australia 91 and WC 92, Manjrekar briefly flirted with opening position before the eventually quits circa 96 due to injuries.

Vinod Kambli - A Test double hundred on debut followed by another in the next test. Fastest Indian to score a 1000 test runs. A dream start. But this best bud of Tendulkar simply could not lockdown his spot on the team although provided with ample opportunities due to his careless and lackadaisical attitude. And in sports its absolutely crucial to have the right mindset to stay successful

Next we will discuss the two perennial problems of Indian cricket - Wicket Keepers and All rounders.