Not everyone who wields the bat goes on to tear apart record books as the little master did. Similarly, not everyone who holds the cricket ball in his hands have the luck of a Wasim Akram or Shane Warne to become bowling legends that they became. But while destiny deprived them of the fame and demi god status of the stars they played their cricket around, it sort of made up for it by giving them that one day when everything fell in place for them, helping them coolly walk into the record books to make records their own that even the greatest stars would envy.
Here is a look at 5 of those Indian cricketers whose names many of you might not have even possibly heard, but who left the game with some amazing records to their name. Pranav Dhanwade, unfortunately, doesn’t find himself in the list as thanks to social media, there is hardly anyone who can deny not having heard about the teen who racked up 1009 runs to make the highest individual score in Cricket. Another honourable mention would go to Irfan Pathan, who also misses out despite having the best bowling figures of 9/16 in Under-19s Youth One-Day Internationals because he is way too popular for this list.
1. Rahul Sanghvi – Best bowling figures in List A
On a sunny December morning in 2002, Chaminda Vaas proved to be the most expensive bowler and conceded almost half of the runs scored by the opposition. Awful performance, you think right? Well who would mind such an awful performance if it comes with figures of 8-3-19-8. Playing at Colombo, Chaminda Vaas decided to inflict upon a strong Zimbabwean batting line up an embarrassment that would prove difficult to erase from memory for them in times to come as they got skittled out for 38. Vaas was on course to a 10 for when Murali intervened and winkled out two tailenders in just 4 deliveries. Vaas, a tad disappointed, still had got the best ODI bowling figures. But what Murali's intervention ensured that Vaas couldn't snatch away a certain Rahul Sanghvi's only, or to put it mildly, major claim to fame in cricket.
Rahul Sanghvi, while playing for Delhi had removed 8 batsmen of Himachal Pradesh in 1996 for just 15 runs with his slow left armers, a List A record that has proved almost as difficult to breach as Hedley Verity's 10/10 First Class record. Sanghvi appeared for India in just a single test and 10 ODIs in late 90s and early 2000s and couldn’t conjure up the same magic on the big stage.
2. Rajeev Nayyar – Longest innings in terms of time taken
Rajeev Nayyar had a long two decade career in domestic cricket and was a major figure in Himachal Cricket, but failed to catch the attention of national selectors. And so he dug in. Well, almost quite literally, when he played out the longest First Class innings in terms of time taken in a match against Jammu and Kashmir in 1999. The patience the man had shown in dealing with his Cricket board was put on exhibition on the pitch. For more than a thousand minutes(yawn), he proved impossible to dislodge for the opposition bowlers and when his marathon knock came to end finally, he had scored 271 runs in 728 balls.
Nayyar, who till yesterday didn't even exist on selectors' radar, had made heads turn all over the world as he ‘crawled’ past names like Hanif Mohammed, Sanath Jayasuriya and Sir Len Hutton to have the record of the longest First Class innings ever played to his name. Till date, no one has come close to crossing the 1000 minute barrier and with the advent of T20, Nayyar’s record of 1015 minutes of stay on the pitch seems safe.
3. Rajesh Chauhan – Longest Test career without losing
Anyone who followed Cricket in the 90s would be spared if he/she fails to remember the most capped player on this list - Rajesh Chauhan. For Chauhan, with his anodyne off spin, didn't have the most distinguished of bowling careers. as his averaged hovered around 40 in both the formats. In fact, his most memorable moment on the cricket pitch, that still causes sparks to fly on YouTube between Indians and Pakistanis, came with the bat when he won India an ODI in Karachi against Pakistan with a last over 6 off Saqlain Mushtaq.
And no, we aren't confusing him with a certain Hrishikesh Kanitkar.Such is the anonymity Rajesh Chauhan lives with, and unfortunately so, when you realize that Chauhan holds one of the most enviable cricket records in the world. In 21 Test matches that he played for India, he never finished on the losing side. Not even once. So, Chauhan has the longest career among those who can claim to have 100% unbeaten careers.
4. Raja Maharaj Singh – Oldest to play First Class cricket and Oldest Debutant in First Class cricket
Royalty does have its perks and Raja Maharaj Singh surely liked enjoying a few. And in process, he went on to create one of those records that look unbeatable in times to come. Made the Governor of the hub of cricket in India post independence, Maharaj Singh pulled a few strings to fulfill a childhood wish of playing cricket against an opposition of highest quality. So, when Commonwealth XI toured India and Ceylon in 1950-51, Maharaja Singh jumped on the opportunity to lead the Bombay Governor’s XI against them. The record bit comes from the fact that he was 72 years of age when he pulled off this trick.
So, Raja Maharaj Singh holds not one but two records – the oldest debutant in First Class cricket as well as the oldest cricketer to play First Class cricket. Batting at no. 9, he was scalped for 4 by someone who would go on to take 10 wickets in a Test inning some years down the line – Jim Laker. He was listed absent ill in the second innings, probably with the realization that youth had passed some 50 years ago.
5. Joginder Singh Rao – Two hat tricks in a single First Class Innings
A captain in the army, Joginder Singh Rao found the favour of his Services team captain when he threw the new ball to Joginder on his First Class debut against Jammu and Kashmir. No one had any clue what was about to transpire and Rao’s medium pace didn’t even look anything close to ominous. But deadly was what it proved for Jammu and Kashmir batsmen as Rao finished with a hat trick on his debut, becoming only the second Indian to achieve the feat on debut.
Next match, he went one better as he picked two hat tricks in a single innings, yeah you read it right, against Northern Punjab to finish with 7 wickets in the innings. He didn’t need much help from fielders as four of his victims were bowled while a young Bishen Singh Bedi was trapped in front. He remains the only bowler apart from Albert Trott to take two hat-tricks in a single innings and is the only cricketer to have taken three hat-tricks in his first two games. Sadly, an accident limited Rao’s career to only 5 FC matches, but his feat is yet to be matched.
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