Published: Dec 03, 2015, 07:38 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 03, 2015, 07:42 PM (IST)
Ranji Trophy, India’s premier domestic First-Class tournament, is usually considered the road to the Indian team for all upcoming cricketers across the country. However, there are a few unlucky players who are ignored despite excellent Ranji Trophy records. And then, there are faces who manage to shine only in the Indian domestic tournament and fail to replicate the same effort for the country when given the golden opportunity to play for India. Amol Muzumdar, still Ranji Trophy’s second highest run-scorer behind Wasim Jaffer, was never selected for the Indian team. He had a massive challenge of keeping the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and later, Yuvraj Singh out of the middle-order in order to make the national side which he eventually couldn’t. READ: Ranji Trophy 2015-16: What each team needs to do to qualify for quarter-final
Although Jaffer was given 31 Tests and 2 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), he probably deserved a longer run. He averaged 34.10 in 31 Tests with a highest of 212. He will always remain one of the unluckiest names: while there the likes of Vinay Kumar, Ajay Sharma, Ramesh Powar, Arun Lal, Gopal Sharma, Debasis Mohanty, Ashok Malhotra and CS Nayudu were given opportunities to prove their worth in the international level but they failed to do so.
Vinay Kumar:
Vinay Kumar’s numbers in Ranji Trophy speak volumes for him. It is unfortunate that he could not handle the pressure and expectations at the highest level. From 107 First-Class matches he has bagged 383 wickets, while his 2,240 runs are not a poor haul either. The Karnataka skipper who led his side to two consecutive Ranji Trophy victories (2013 and 2014) has played just one Test for India where he had conceded 73 runs claiming just one wicket after being mauled by David Warner.
Ajay Sharma:
Ajay Sharma made his ODI debut in 1988, and was in and out from the national side until 1993. He played 1 Test and 31 ODIs. While he scored 53 in that lone Test of his career, he managed 424 runs from 31 ODIs he represented India. From 129 First-Class matches, however, he scored 10,120 runs at a superb of 67.46 — a number behind only Don Bradman, Vijay Merchant and George Headley. Meanwhile, in his five-year-old international career, he never reached 60. Sharma even bowled slow left-arm orthodox, claiming 87 First-Class wickets and 15 scalps in ODIs. His First-Class career came to a premature end following match-fixing allegations. READ: Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Teams which have exceeded expectations
Debasis Mohanty:
417 wickets at an average of 29.15 with best bowling figures of 10 for 46 in an innings in 117 First-Class matches indicate the prospect in Mohanty. However, the numbers in his international career do not show this. Mohanty managed to bag a place in 45 ODIs where he grabbed 45 wickets at a not-too-bad average of 29.15, and put up a decent show in World Cup 1999. However, he never got more than two Test caps…
Ashok Malhotra: Malhotra represented India in 7 Tests; in the 10 innings he had batted, he scored just 226 runs at a poor 25.11 with just one half-century. He never really did justice to himself, given his superlative domestic figures; in First-Class cricket he averages 50.95 in 156 First-Class matches scoring 9,748 runs with 24 centuries and 52 half-centuries.
Arun Lal
Arun Lal featured in 156 First-Class matches and had scored 10,421 runs — a tally nothing short of impressive. He averaged 46.94 in the domestic circuit with a best of 287, and was the main force behind Bengal’s Ranji Trophy triumph in 1989-90. His father, uncle, and cousin all being Ranji players, it cannot be denied that Arun Lal’s excellence in the sport lied in his roots. Unfortunately, India could not make use of his potential. In an international career spanning 7 years he played only 16 Tests and 13 ODIs, failing in both formats.
(Sakshi Gupta, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a sports fanatic whose mantra in life is “do only what you enjoy.” Her Twitter handle is @sakshi2929)
