5 unlucky Indian cricketers who have been part of second-string sides but rarely make it to limited over team otherwise

manoj tiwary

The Zimbabwean interim coach Makhaya Ntini recently criticised India's decision to send in a second-string side to tour Zimbabwe. Though some of the senior cricketers might have been rested because of the non-stop cricket they have been playing this year, the BCCI maintains that a young squad has been selected to try out potential new talents keeping in mind the important tours ahead.

Trying out youngsters is a laudable effort if their good performances are rewarded with selection in the upcoming tours. But the BCCI have followed a disturbing trend of selecting second-string sides on unimportant tours and not selecting those players again even if they do well.

Here are five unlucky Indian cricketers who have been part of second-string sides but rarely make it to the team otherwise.


Manoj Tiwary

One man who has been extremely unlucky in Indian cricket is Manoj Tiwari. Despite a good debut and good performances whenever he got the opportunity, he was never given the long rope by the selectors. He kept going in and out of the side, being selected only for unimportant matches.

After his unsuccessful debut against Australia at Brisbane in 2008, he was not considered for the next three years until he made his comeback against the West Indies in 2011. After this, he kept getting sporadic chances and was in and out of the team which did not help his cause.

He played in the 5th ODI against West Indies that year. Coming into bat when India had lost two wickets with 1 run on the board, he scored a brilliant unbeaten century and was awarded the Man of the Match for his effort. But he was dropped even after his century and did not get a chance to play for 14 matches after that.

He made a comeback as an all-rounder replacing Rahul Sharma at Colombo the next year and picked up 4 wickets, also scoring 21 runs to go with it. He followed it up with a brilliant 65 in the next game at Pallekele. He was in the squad for the Commonwealth Bank tri-series and the Asia Cup in 2012 but failed to get any chances.

He then was picked for the tours to Bangladesh and the last tour to Zimbabwe. Very few cricketers have been unlucky like him!

Kedar Jadhav

kedar jadhav

Known for scoring truckloads of runs at the domestic level, Kedar Jadhav has not been able to cement his place in the Indian side. He was first picked against Sri Lanka at Ranchi in 2014 where he scored 20 runs on debut and was dropped soon after.

He was then picked again for India's last tour to Zimbabwe where he mesmerized one and all by scoring a scintillating century in the 3rd ODI. Coming in at a score of 82 for 4, he went on to score a brilliant 105 that should have caught the selectors' imagination.

Also blessed with the ability to don the wicket-keeping gloves, Jadhav said that he would love to play the role of a finisher for India.

"In whatever opportunities I get, I want to establish myself as a finisher. What I want to do is win games for India. I don't want to be someone who scores a flashy 70-80, like I did in the Quadrangular series and get out when the team needs just 30-odd runs. I want to finish games," Jadhav said.

With 146 runs from 4 matches prior to the current series against Zimbabwe, it is baffling that Jadhav was not picked again for some time after his brilliant century. He will be hoping to do well in the current tour to cement his place in the side.

Dhawal Kulkarni

dhawal kulkarni

Widely considered to be one of the finest bowlers in the Indian domestic circuit, Dhawal Kulkarni has not been able to establish himself in the Indian team so far. This is particularly strange at a time when India have struggled to find a remarkable fast bowling talent who has been consistent enough for some time now.

It was his mind-blowing spell of 5 for 42 in the first innings that played a leading role in Mumbai winning the Ranji Trophy title this year. His 9 for 56 in Ranji Trophy 2013 was also a similar match-winning effort. But strangely he has not been given enough chances to prove himself.

Ever since his India debut in 2014, Kulkarni has played just 8 ODIs and taken 13 wickets. Only in his third match against Sri Lanka in 2014, he picked up a career-best 4 for 34. That was followed by 3 for 57 against the same opposition in the very next match. But he was not picked again till the unimportant tours to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe the next year.

He has had a great IPL 2016 for the Gujarat Lions where he finished as the fourth highest wicket-taker with 18 scalps to his credit. His inclusion in the squad for the Zimbabwe tour is justified but one hopes that the selectors will give him the long rope now. A bowler as talented as he is should not only feature in second-string squads for unimportant tours.

Ambati Rayudu

ambati rayudu

In the early part of his career, Ambati Rayudu was hailed as the next Sachin Tendulkar in Indian cricketing circles. Though he went on to score heavily, a series of disputes and his joining the rebel Indian Cricket League saw him briefly disappear into oblivion.

Though he has been back on the radar since late 2012, he continues to remain ignored for the first team despite having put in some remarkable performances. His is the classic case of being unlucky enough to present at the wrong time when the Indian middle order has boasted of some great names thus intensifying the competition.

Thus, in spite of the good performances, Rayudu gets called in to perform only for second string sides or in unimportant matches. He made his debut against Zimbabwe in 2013 after having been named as the replacement player in tours to England and the West Indies. He had failed to get a game on either of these tours.

Despite scoring an impressive 63 on debut, he mostly remained the reserve batsman in the squad against Australia, West Indies and South Africa that year. He played in the ODI tour to Bangladesh in 2014 and the ODI series against West Indies.

Since then, he has had a few chances of and on, having been selected once again predictably for a second string side for the ongoing Zimbabwe tour.

Murali Vijay

murali vijay

A picture of absolute composure and solidity, Murali Vijay is one of the finest openers who has firmly established himself in the Indian Test team. But in the limited overs cricket, it continues to remain a different story as Vijay as struggled to break into the squad for some time now.

Despite a series of good IPL seasons for the CSK - he compiled over 400 runs in two consecutive seasons and over 300 runs in the following two seasons - he was overlooked even when India had a minor crisis at the top of the order.

After his debut against South Africa in 2010, he was picked for the Zimbabwe tour that year and he played in the first three matches. That was followed by a single match against Australia and three matches against New Zealand that year. Vijay got off to starts but failed to capitalise.

When he failed to score big in the two matches against South Africa in 2011, he was not considered for selection for almost two years. In 2013, he made a brief re-appearance playing three matches in a tri-series against the West indies and Sri Lanka.

He was again picked for the Zimbabwe tour last year and though he scored 72 in one of the matches, he has not been considered for selection ever since.

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Edited by Staff Editor