In this article we will take a look at those forgotten Indian cricketers who just faded away from Indian cricket.
Getting an Indian team call up for any cricketer in India is a lot more difficult than debuting for another country. Because the game of bat and ball is so very popular in the sub-continent, almost everyone who instantaneously loves the sport wants to play for the Indian national team.
However, even at the professional level where there are 38 state associations in the BCCI to pick players and choose from, the overall pool of cricketers certainly get not less than any kind of a ginormous realm.
Perhaps even if someone then ascends and climbs up the entire ladder by reaching the national team’s shores, the individual needs to be sharply quick on his feet to fairly come good at its earliest. Otherwise, just like many many other exceptional talents, the player might come in and slip away in a whip.
In this article we will take a look at those forgotten Indian cricketers who just faded away from Indian cricket.
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10. Parvez Rasool
Parvez Rasool, the talented all-rounder from Jammu and Kashmir, made a name for himself during the 2012-13 Ranji season. His exceptional performances earned him recognition and paved the way for IPL contracts and call-ups in 2013. However, his journey in the national team has been a challenging one.
Despite being a skilled off-spinner, Rasool has struggled to break through the defenses of top batsmen. This weakness has also affected his batting abilities, making it difficult for him to contribute significantly to the team's scorecard. As a result, Rasool's last appearance in the Indian cricket team was in 2017.
9. Parvinder Awana
In 2012, the Kings XI Punjab made a wise decision by purchasing Delhi's right-arm bowler, Parvinder Awana, after his impressive performance in the Ranji Trophy season. His ability to bowl accurately and move the ball off the ground earned him a national call-up for the T20 series against England that same year.
Unfortunately, Awana's debut was not as successful as he had hoped. He allowed 71 runs at a high economy of 11.83 in the two games he participated in, resulting in his immediate removal from the team. His struggles continued in the IPL, and since 2015, he has failed to attract any bidders in the auction.
Parvinder Awana announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in 2018.
8. Faiz Fazal
Being well-known as a solid top-order batsman for Vidarbha first-class cricket over the years, Faiz Fazal finally played an India ODI game in the year 2016 against Zimbabwe at Harare. The cricketer, while making his ODI debut, also had become the first Indian player in 16 years who was debuting in his 30s.
However, his India call-up also had come on the back of an excellent domestic season where the left-handed batsman had scored a pile of 714 first class runs at an average of 44.62. Especially his three centuries that also included a match-winning 127 against the Rest of India while chasing 480 had brought him on the selectors’ radar.
Overall, while being the opener did mean that Fazal was in a long queue whose chiefs were the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. Also, unfortunately, Fazal’s name has never been synonymous when it comes to the IPL.
7. Munaf Patel
Munaf Patel played a crucial role in India's victorious 2011 World Cup campaign. The medium-pacer's consistent ability to take wickets and disrupt the opposition's momentum was instrumental in securing the coveted trophy.
However, Patel's fortunes have taken a turn for the worse in recent years. Despite his best efforts to impress selectors and secure an IPL franchise, he has struggled to regain his former glory. In November 2018, he announced his retirement from cricket.
6. Venugopal Rao
Venugopal Rao is a name that may not ring a bell for many cricket enthusiasts, but he is one of the forgotten Indian cricketers who made his international debut in 2005 when skipper Sourav Ganguly was dropped from the team. Rao had an impressive domestic track record while playing for Andhra Pradesh, which earned him his maiden call for the Indian team in 2005-06 when new players were being tested on the international stage.
Rao was a lower middle-order batter and a right-arm off-break bowler. He made some good scores between 2005-06 while playing for the Indian team, but unfortunately, they were not enough to sustain his position in the team. Despite playing a few matches in the IPL, he was never retained by any franchise.
After a career spanning 14 years, Rao decided to hang up his boots in 2019. However, he is nowhere to be seen these days, neither in commentary nor as a coach with any team.
Also Read: Youngest Indian cricketers to score an international century
5. Praveen Kumar
Praveen Kumar was a famous name of the Indian cricket team, known for his exceptional skills as a medium pacer. However, his state teammate Bhuvneshwar Kumar proved to be a tough competition, overshadowing Praveen's ability to generate strong bounce and swing the ball in both directions.
Despite his vast experience, the selectors had to make the tough decision of removing the veteran player due to his recurring injury issues.
Praveen Kumar announced retirement from all forms of cricket in 2018.
4. Mayank Markande
While Mayank Markande, by just being 23 years of age can definitely play a lot more for team India in the future, the leg-spinner as of now has only featured in a single T20I against Australia in 2019. The leg-spinner just before making his India debut was in an exceptional bowling form especially when Markande had played for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2018.
During his stay at the MI camp, the leg-spinner had played all 14 IPL games as a premier spinner and had scalped a collection of 15 wickets during the 2018 IPL season. Following his impressive IPL performances, Mayank then did a convincing job for the Punjab team in the 2018-19 season, as from his 6 games, the leggie grabbed a total of 29 wickets.
But then very soon after playing his debut T20I game for India, Markande had an unpleasant outing where he leaked 31 runs without managing to grab a single wicket. Overall, while a single T20I might not be entirely enough to judge his talent, the cricketer ever since then hasn’t exhibited much of his previous match-winning performances.
3. Dinesh Mongia
Dinesh Mongia was part of two World Cups, but he failed to make a mark in both. Having started his international career in 2001, Mongia did score one or two big knocks, like his 159 against Zimbabwe, which also won him the Man of the Match award.
But as a batting allrounder, that was the first and the last century of Mongia. Mongia was also in the playing XI under Sourav Ganguly against Pakistan series in 2005, but again, there were no memorable performances.
After a string of poor performances in 2005, he was dropped from the team. He was suspended by the BCCI in 2008 for appearing in unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL). Though the ban against him was lifted, he was never seen in the Indian team again.
At 42, Mongia announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
2. Joginder Sharma
Remembered for his last over heroics against Pakistan in the 2007 T20 World Cup, Joginder Sharma had the arguably the shortest fame in international cricket. Hardly anyone knew him before that last over from the 2007 World Cup which India won.
Having made his debut in 2004, the right-arm medium-fast bowler also played few IPL games with the Chennai Super Kings till 2011.
Sharma has played only 4 ODIs and 4 T20Is for India. He had a serious car accident in 2011, and since then he has not played any IPL or international match. He announced his retirement from cricket on February 3, 2023.
He is currently a Deputy Superintendent in Haryana Police.
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1. Murali Karthik
Though the left-arm orthodox bowler didn't have a poor international run, he couldn't get a full-time role as a bowler in the team due to presence of players like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.
Karthik made few apperances for the Indian team from 2000 to 2007, but was never a permanent member. In a career spanning 7 years, Karthik appeared in 37 ODIs in which he took 37 wickets, while he took 24 wickets in 8 Test matches
He also played IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab. In all, he played 56 matches in six years and ended his IPL career with 31 wickets. His economy of 7.24, was also a big reason why teams couldn't continue with him.
Karthik announced his retirement from the game in 2021.
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