The ultimate aspiration of every Indian child who plays cricket is to represent the nation by wearing the Indian jersey, walking out onto the field, and bringing home championship titles for the country.
Although possessing remarkable records in domestic cricket, numerous Indian cricketers were unable to make their way onto the national team. The intense competition within India’s cricketing circuit has led to many skilled players being remembered solely as legends of the domestic league, and never given the opportunity to represent their country on an international level.
1. Mithun Manhas
Mithun Manhas is highly regarded as a cricketing legend in Delhi, having played a significant role in leading the state team to victory in the Ranji trophy of 2008. Throughout his career, he has scored over 8000 runs in the Ranji trophy. Unfortunately, Manhas was born in the same era as iconic players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid, and thus struggled to make his way into the Indian national team. Nevertheless, he has featured in the Indian Premier League, representing teams such as Pune Warriors India and Chennai Super Kings, and had the competition not been as rigorous, he would have undoubtedly made significant contributions to the national team.
2. Dheeraj Jadhav
Dheeraj Jadhav, who is now 43 years old, was regarded as one of the most promising players during the 2003/04 domestic season. However, with Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and VVS Laxman all at their prime during that time, Jadhav’s talent went unnoticed. Despite his exceptional form leading up to the home series against Australia in 2004, which earned him a call-up to the squad for the fourth test match, he was unable to make his way into the playing XI as Gautam Gambhir was given his debut instead.
3. Ranadeb Bose
Ranadeb Bose was included in the Indian squad for their tour of England during the 2007-08 season, but he did not get the opportunity to make his Test debut. Bose, who hails from Bengal, had an impressive record of 57 wickets in only eight games with a strike rate of 39.4 during the 2006/07 Ranji Trophy, which brought him to the attention of selectors. However, with established bowlers like Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, and Sreesanth already in the squad, Bose was unable to make a breakthrough. Despite this setback, he continued to perform well in first-class cricket, picking up 317 wickets in 91 games with a strike rate of 55.87.
4. Amol Muzumdar
Amol Muzumdar is considered one of the most unfortunate Indian cricketers, despite consistently performing well in domestic cricket, he never had the opportunity to represent his country. Interestingly, Muzumdar was next in line to bat after Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli during their famous 661-run partnership in the Harris Shield Trophy. Unfortunately, this was a sign of things to come as he continued to wait for his chance to play for India. Muzumdar has scored a remarkable 11,671 runs in 171 matches, including 30 first-class centuries. Nowadays, he is mostly seen as a commentator during domestic matches.
