5 Indian cricketers who were one-season wonders in English county cricket

There has been much prose written about Indian cricketers who plied their trade in England when not on international duty in years gone by. For five seasons, Ravi Shastri fired tracer bullets off his blade for Welsh county Glamorgan while the ever-controversial Bishan Singh Bedi spun his way to over 400 wickets for Northamptonshire in a six-year spell.Farokh Engineer must not be forgotten either, a veteran of 154 matches for the Red Rose of Lancashire; and nor should India’s former captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who plundered 11 centuries at Derbyshire in the early 1990s – including seven in 1991.The announcement this week that Cheteshwar Pujara will play at Yorkshire following Younis Khan’s decision to drop out makes him the latest Indian to seek a second home on English shores. He briefly tried out at Derbyshire after the conclusion of India’s unsuccessful Test tour in England last year, but the batsman looks set to be a more permanent addition at Yorkshire this season, the reigning Division One champions.While it remains to be seen whether Pujara becomes a regular face at his newest team, not all Indians hung around at an English county like the aforementioned. A trawl through the archives has produced five names who graced cricket’s oldest domestic circuit for one year only.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar (Yorkshire)

A teenage Sachin Tendulkar represented the northern county of Yorkshire in 1992 – three years after making his Test debut. In doing so, he secured the accolade of being the first overseas cricketer to ever don the kit of the White Rose club.

Not overawed, the crowd were to be treated to glimpses of his later greatness as he accumulated over 1,000 runs in the Championship, averaging 46.52. His four-day highlight came courtesy of a 96-ball hundred against Durham towards the back-end of the campaign, but in a consistent year he also notched up half-centuries on seven other occasions.

Tendulkar, then not a one-day wonder, was nestled in the middle-order for Yorkshire’s Sunday League matches, but typically, he still made a mark. In a famous Roses contest, the Little Master smacked 107 to boost Yorkshire in their chase of 265, but it wasn’t enough as Lancashire eventually prevailed by four runs. Tendulkar making a ton and his team losing was a trend even then.

He was not to return in 1993 – he never played county cricket again – but reflected on his fleeting appearance as “one of the greatest four-and-a-half months I have spent in my life”.

#2 Virender Sehwag (Leicestershire)

Fresh from a run to the World Cup final, Virender Sehwag headed to the Midlands to represent Leicestershire in 2003 – a year which saw them relegated to the second division.

The blame for that much at least could not be attributed to Sehwag though, who collected 478 Championship runs in his six matches, cracking two tons – his highest being 137 out of a team score of 243 against Nottinghamshire. He would have been more prolific had he capitalised on his starts.

Leicestershire life in coloured clothes was no cakewalk for the talented aggressor. His 11 innings yielded an average below 30, and despite surpassing 50 four times, frustratingly, he was unable to reach three figures. Acquainting himself with Twenty20, a format he would later excel in was not a doddle either. In six efforts, he never got to 30, a surprise in hindsight.

The relationship was brought to a mutual closure mid-way through the season with Sehwag instructed to rest when a scan revealed a disc problem. Disappointment was expressed for having to cut the contract short, along with a wish to play for the club in the future, a wish that 12 years on, is still to be made reality.

#3 Zaheer Khan (Worcestershire)

Discounting a single match for Surrey in 2004, Zaheer Khan’s county association came in the form of a year with Worcestershire in 2006, replacing Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar, in a bid for a Test recall.

Proving the lynchpin for a county which managed their goal of promotion back into the Championship’s top tier, Khan utilised the seaming English conditions, tallying up a total of 78 first-class wickets. It was against Essex where he came agonisingly close to achieving a rare cricketing feat. After toppling nine of the opposition, wicket-keeper Steven Davies spilled a Darren Gough edge, and ultimately, the chance for Khan to reach the bowler’s Everest – taking all 10 wickets in an innings.

A valuable addition for the limited-overs competitions, he snaffled 28 wickets in 14 matches at an average of barely 16. Worcestershire ended second in the Pro40 league, enough to be elevated into the top division.

A productive time at New Road earned Khan his desired Test recall, a team he was to become a vital part of as India ascended to number one in the world under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

#4 Sunil Gavaskar (Somerset)

Many cricket aficionados remember 1980 as the year Sunil Gavaskar won the prestigious Wisden Cricketer of the Year award and the Padma Bhushan. However, the legendary opener also signed to play for Somerset alongside England all-rounder Ian Botham.

Never hesitant to get stuck in, Gavaskar participated in 14 County Championship matches and across all three List A formats – the Gillette Cup, the Benson & Hedges Cup and the John Player League – which took place over 60, 55 and 40 overs respectively.

A knock of 75 on Championship debut was soon followed by 138 at The Oval versus Surrey, but his strong start wasn’t extended with his second, and final, county hundred coming over two months later with an unbeaten 155 against Yorkshire at Weston-super-Mare. He finished with an average of 33.20 but tellingly, in nine of his 22 innings he failed to reach double figures. He did, however, deliver in the B&H Cup, notching up 123 as Somerset fell short by a solitary run against Middlesex, a score which complimented the 90 he made a few days prior in Canterbury.

An international run-drought ensued on his departure from the West Country, but the diminutive Indian was to bounce back quickly enough, breaking Sir Don Bradman’s Test century record as well as becoming the first player to reach 10,000 Test runs, before retiring from internationals in 1987.

#5 Rahul Dravid (Kent)

The Wall of India doubled up as the Wall of Kent in 2000. Rahul Dravid, the irremovable man from Bengaluru, proved equally as determined in south-east England as he did anywhere else in the world.

He settled well into his strongest suit – the County Championship – racking up over 1,000 runs as the club’s leading run-scorer. Eight half-centuries provided the consistency while two hundreds offered some enormity, with 182 in his second match against the touring Zimbabweans his most impressive.

His most memorable moment would have come with Kent’s defeat of Hampshire, where scores of 137 and 73 not out fought off even the mighty Shane Warne. The rarest of rare off-breaks were on display too, with four of his five first-class wickets coming for Kent – two of them in one innings at home against Surrey!

Dravid’s competence shone in the one-day events as well, where he posted a ton and a trio of 50s in the number three slot, a spot he occupied in his One-Day International career for India.

Yet although they boasted one of the world’s finest cricketers, it didn’t prevent Kent being a middling outfit in the millennial year. Still, more than a decade on, the faithful fans remember the time when Dravid came to play.