Cricket in India is a religion and those who make it to the national team are Gods for some and heroes for many. After making it to the national team the more difficult part is to sustain one’s position in international cricket. Not every cricketer is able to withstand the pressure and expectation of being an international cricketer and fade away after a brief stint at the highest level. There have been some Indian cricketers who have been able to produce a moment of brilliance, have been brilliant in one match/series but have faded away from international cricket.
Let’s have a look at 5 such cricketers :
1. Vijay Bharadwaj:
Most of the Indian cricket lovers remember Bharadwaj as the player who shone in the LG Cup tri-series in Nairobi featuring India, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya in 1999. Even though India lost to SA in final, but Bharadwaj had a good tournament, took 10 wickets and scored 89 runs in that tournament and was adjudged the Man of the Series. Many thought that India has got an all-round utility player. A slipped-disc problem that afflicted his lower back during India’s tour of Australia in 2000 under Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy, undid Bharadwaj’s career. Though he recovered from injury but could not replicate his initial success. He struggled to cement his place in team and soon went out of favour with selectors.
2. Atul Bedade:
In the early 90s, there was a call in Indian cricketing circles for a batsman who could hit hard and could clear boundary. Atul Bedade was credited to be a big hitter and an attacking batsman. Looking at his hitting ability in domestic circuit he was given the chance. He debuted against UAE in Austral-Asia cup at Sharjah and in the finals against arch-rivals Pakistan he scored a run a ball 44 including 4 half a dozens and suddenly there was a buzz around Indian players and fans. But then that turned to be a flash in pan moment as the pressure of hitting sixes was too much on him. His hitting was far and few between other chances given to him and was dropped from the side and never got a chance again.
3. Hrishikesh Kanitkar:
He played his first ODI in Dec 1997. He could score lower-order runs, bowl off-spin and was a decent fielder. He played a total of 34 ODIs but came into limelight in finals of Silver Jubilee Independence Cup finals at Dhaka. India was chasing 315 in 48 overs and it came down to 3 from 2 balls. Kanitkar was on strike facing the wily Saqlain Mushtaq. Next ball Saqlain bowled one in his slot and he dispatched it to the midwicket boundary. Ganguly who was named MOM said that the guy Hrishi has a big bright future ahead of him. But he could not produce consistent performances of big magnitude and soon found himself out of Indian Team. He made his test debut for India in 1999-00 series against Australia in 2nd test at Melbourne. He scored a 45 in that test but failed in 2nd test giving enough indications that he would not be a dependable batsman in outside Asian conditions.But that boundary against Pak is one moment that nobody forgets till now.
4. Amey Khurasiya:
Another case of one match wonder.Amey and rare distinction of clearing IAS exam before his debut for team India.He made his debut against Srilanka at Pune in Pepsi Cup Tri-Nation Series in 1999 involving Pakistan as well. He stole the limelight on his debut and scored a momentum-changing 57 of 45 balls. A strike rate of 126+ those days was extraordinary stuff. But that was all he could do as in next 11 matches he played he could not score a total of 100 runs. Played his last ODI in 2001 against Srilanka and after that never played again.
5. Narendra Hirwani:
Hirwani debut was in 1989 in the final test of series against WestIndies at Madras. The wicket was underprepared and India won a crucial toss and posted a challenging 382. Hirwani on his debut produced a performance of lifetime. He dismissed Vivian Richards with a googly and accounted for 7 more batsmen to finish with 8/61. This was the only fourth instance of a bowler taking 8 wickets on debut.On a day 4,5 wicket Hirwani was going to be a big challenge and Westindies team capitulated before him. Hirwani took 8/75 to have match figures of 16/136. His debut performance still records till date.
Another home series followed with Hirwani taking 20 wickets ad Hirwani had 36 wickets in first 4 matches of his career. His career then took a turn for worse in 1989-90 tour of WestIndies. Batsman attacked him and even at Port of Spain, where wickets helped spinners, he could do little. Hirwani was slow through the air to cause trouble, excepts on turners. He played his last test in Dec 96 against SA and later found himself out of the team. He played 18 ODIs, started well like tests, was first Indian bowler to capture 4 wickets in 3 consecutive ODIs. But after first half a dozen ODIs his form dipped and he found himself out of ODI team as well.
He continued to be a prominent bowler in domestic cricket for Madhya Pradesh Ranji team & retired at end of 2005-06 season. He could not take his bowling to next level and t was not able to sustain his place in the team for long enough. He is mainly remembered for his success on test debut. Another record which he still holds is bowling 59 overs without a break (other than schedule intervals) during a test against England at Oval in 1990.
