5 Indian batsmen who were dismissed hit-wicket

Hit-wicket is probably the most embarrassing way to end your innings in a cricket game. Virat Kohli became the 20^th Indian player to be dismissed in such a manner during the first Test against England at Rajkot.

In the first innings, England scored a massive 500-plus total and India returned the favour with centuries each from Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, and soon skipper Kohli was on the brink of something big when his leg brushed the stumps and his innings was brought to an abrupt end.

On that note, let us have a look at 5 top Indian players who were dismissed hit-wicket:

#1 Lala Amarnath (India vs West Indies 4th Test 1949, Chennai)

Lala Amarnath is the first Indian to score a century in International cricket and contributed in other aspects of cricket as well as a selector, manager, coach and broadcaster. He was elected as the captain of the Indian cricket team on their first ever tour to Australia.

In 1949, during West Indies’ tour to India, in the fourth Test in Chennai, skipper Lala Amarnath was dismissed for 13 runs in the first innings.

In the match, the hosts were outclassed losing the match by an innings and 193 runs. The Punjab-born played 24 Tests and scored a lone century and also took 45 wickets. Though his numbers don't sound very impressive, he is still considered to be a pivotal figure in Indian cricket.

#2 Vijay Manjrekar (India vs West Indies 1st Test 1962, Port of Spain)

Vijay Manjrekar made his Test debut against England in Kolkata back in 1951, and in the third match of his career, he proved his worth by scoring a memorable 133 at Leeds during their tour to England in 1952. Since then, he was an integral part of the squad for quite a few years and even proved to be handy with the ball as well.

Having played 55 Test matches, Vijay scored 3208 runs at an average of 39.12 which included 7 centuries. In his last Test innings against New Zealand in Chennai, he scored an unbeaten 102, a rare feat indeed.

His son, Sanjay Manjrekar, also represented the national side in the future and went on to play 37 Tests with a top score of 218.

#3 Dilip Vengsarkar (India vs Australia 1st Test 1977, Brisbane)

Dilip Vengsarkar was one of the finest batsmen of his era. Coming in at no.3, the right-hander had the potential to take on even the fiercest of bowling attacks. During the 1980’s, he was arguably one of the best in the world and scored eight centuries in 16 matches played between 1986 and 1988.

In the early stage of his career in 1977, he toured Australia and it was in the first Test match in Brisbane that Vengsarkar was out hit wicket off a Jeff Thompson delivery.

The Mumbaikar played a total of 116 Tests and scored 6868 runs at an average of 42.13 with 17 centuries and a top score of 166. He even led the national side in 10 Tests but lost the captaincy in 1989 after a controversial tour to the United States of America where he was a part of a few festival matches.

#4 Mohinder Amarnath (India vs Pakistan 2nd Test 1978, Lahore)

Mohinder Amarnath is also on the list along with his father Lala, but junior Amarnath was dismissed in this unfortunate manner not once, but thrice! He is well known for being the Man of the Match in the semi-final and the final of the 1983 World Cup which India won after defeating the mighty West Indies at Lord’s.

During India’s tour to Pakistan in 1978, Jimmy was dismissed hit wicket in the second Test match at the Gadaffi Stadium when he was batting on 20. In the following year, India played host to Australia, and it was during the 6^th and penultimate Test match that the right-hander was hit-wicket when he was on 2.

Also read: 5 of the most embarrassing things in cricket

Once again, we head back to Pakistan in 1984, when, in Faisalabad, Mohinder suffered the same misfortune, this time, off an Azeem Hafeez delivery. The Punjab-born played 69 Tests and scored 11 centuries out of which 9 tons were scripted overseas.

#5 VVS Laxman (India vs West Indies 4th Test 2002, Antigua)

A player with sublime technique and flawless wrist-work, VVS Laxman will always remain a special batsman in the history of Indian cricket. We mainly tend to relate this class player with the 281-run innings he scored during the historic Kolkata Test back in 2001, but as a matter of fact, he is much more than that.

His 300-run stand with Rahul Dravid during the 2003-04 series in Adelaide was no less celebrated. It was during India’s tour of the West Indies in 2002, that Laxman scored a sublime century in the 4^th Test match at St.John’s, in Antigua, when the 5-match series was tied at 1-1.

When the Hyderabadi was batting on 130, he, unfortunately, troubled the sticks while facing Merv Dillon and took his strides back to the pavilion.

The right-hander played 134 Tests for India and scored 17 centuries at an average of 45.97.