While Indian cricketers are making a name for themselves, some Indian-descent players are doing the same for other countries. It is extremely difficult to get into the Indian national team and a lot of talented players are left behind. Some of these players have joined associate nations and have done really well for them.
- Rahul Sharma
Rahul Sharma represented Delhi in the Ranji Trophy in 1986 but was dropped from the Delhi team and did not get picked again. He later moved to associate nation Hong Kong and joined the Kowloon cricket club in Hong Kong to play cricket and was selected for the Hong Kong team in 1993 and represented them for 14 years, finally retiring in 2007 after the WCL Division 3 tournament at the age of 47, as the most capped Hong Kong player, having represented Hong Kong in 110 matches. From 1994 to 2006, he also competed in all nine Hong Kong Sixes tournaments.
- Riaz Poonawala
Riaz Poonawala was another Indian cricketer who moved to the UAE in the early 1990s and qualified for them under four-year rule. While Riaz Poonawala was not selected for the 1996 World Cup, he did play ODIs for the UAE in the 1994 Australasia Cup, where the UAE played their first-ever official ODIs in an attempt to prepare for the 1996 World Cup. Before moving to the UAE, Riaz Poonawala had a decent domestic cricket career with Maharashtra, scoring 1825 in 28 FC matches at a decent average of 40.55.
- Saurabh Netravalkar
Saurabh Netravalkar, who captained the USA cricket team, also represented India U19 in the U19 World Cup in 2010, alongside players such as KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Jaydev Unadkat. Saurabh Netravalkar was in good form at the U19 World Cup in 2010, taking 9 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 17. Netravalkar took a break from cricket after the U19 World Cup to finish his engineering and originally went to the United States as a software engineer. He continued his cricket career after moving to the United States, eventually making it to the national team.
- Munish Ansari
Munish Ansari, also known as Sehore Express, is a pace bowler from Sehore, Madhya Pradesh. He was never selected for Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy despite consistently performing well in first-division cricket. Munish Ansari was a product of India’s MRF pace academy and could bowl at speeds of over 140kph. Munish Ansari later moved to Oman and represented them in the 2016 T20 World Cup.
5. Shaukat Dukanwala
Shaukat Dukanwala played FC cricket for Gujarat in the 1980s, taking 27 wickets in 16 FC matches at an average of 45 and also being a decent lower-order batsman. He later migrated to the UAE in the early 1990s. Shaukat Dukanwala then made history by becoming the first cricketer from an associate nation to take five wickets in an ODI.
