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It is a big honor to represent your national team in any sport and its importance magnifies ten times in cricket-frenzy India. As one of the best cricketing nations, playing for India aspires to almost every kid who has a bit of passion for the game. So, playing just one international cricket match for India is big achievement in itself.
There are many cricketers who have missed a chance to penetrate an Indian team despite consistent performances in domestic tournaments. Similarly, there are a handful of cricketers as well, who seemed lucky to play for India.
Many cricketers played one of two games but were cast aside by management quickly but some played a handful of games till their luck ran out. So let’s take a look at five cricketers who were lucky to represent India.
5. Stuart Binny
The 38-year-old Karnataka all-rounder was very lucky to represent India in all three formats. Despite not-so-impressive numbers in domestic cricket, the batting all-rounder featured in six Tests and 17 white-ball matches for India. But he struggled for consistency and many questioned his inclusion in India’s red-ball team after scoring just 194 runs from ten innings.
4. Rohan Gavaskar
A son of the famous Sunil Gavaskar never got it going despite playing 11 ODIs for India during the 2004 season. Despite averaging just around 30 in List A cricket, the left-handed batter got a chance in India’s ODI squad. His 44.19 average in first-class cricket always pushed him for a spot in the star-studded Indian batting lineup. But he managed to score just 151 runs at an average of 18.85 with one fifty. His international career lasted only nine months before selectors invested more time in the likes of rising stars Gautam Gambhir, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, and Suresh Raina in ODIs.
3. Varun Aaron
Once hailed as one of the fastest seamers in India, the 33-year-old Jharkhand pacer was lucky to play nine Tests and nine ODIs. He managed to take just 18 Test wickets at an average of 52.61 and 11 wickets in ODIs at an average of 38.09.
2. Ramesh Powar
Mumbai-born off-spinner had decent numbers in domestic cricket with 470 wickets in first class tournaments at an average of 31.31. But he failed to make any impact at the highest level with just 40 wickets from 33 white-ball international matches. Many will remember for his unique bowling style but very few will remember his performances.
1. Vijay Shankar
The 32-year-old middle-order batting all-rounder seemed to have solved India’s issue for a pace all-rounder spot but faded away quickly. Tamil Nadu’s star made an international debut in March 2018 but lasted only a few months after a string of poor performances in both ODIs and T20Is. He scored just 223 runs from 12 ODIs and 101 runs from nine T20Is. His bowling figures were pretty poor too with nine wickets from 15 white-ball innings.
