5 Indian fast bowlers who have gone missing from Test cricket

India have a long and great tradition of batting superstars dominating the opposition with their stylish strokes and many of them have gone on to become the best in the world. When it comes to the bowling line up, the same cannot be said. In fact, after Kapil Dev, one of the finest cricketers from India, there were very few who managed to survive in the hardship of international cricket.Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Ishant Sharma, Karsan Ghavri and Irfan Pathan were the only 5 bowlers other than Kapil Dev to reach 100 Test match wickets. And only the first three have more than 150 wickets. And many argue about the lack of consistency with Ishant Sharma. So the list gets downs to just 2. How pity!That is the state of fast bowling in India, every cricket fan’s worry.Here we take a look at five of the many bowlers who went missing after a promising start to their career – either due to poor form or due to lack of opportunities.Bowlers who got opportunities to represent India in whites for more than 25 times, were not considered in this list.

#5 Lakshmipathy Balaji

The work horse of Tamil Nadu, managed to play 8 times for India, in which he got 27 wicket to his name. He stated off poorly against New Zealand at home before making the Pakistani batsmen struggle.

His career was cut short by a stress fracture that almost ended his international career. He still got more than 300 first class wickets with 16 five wicket hauls. The right-arm medium pacer also has 18 four wicket hauls to his credit.

Even though he could make a comeback for the tour of New Zealand in 2009, he could never break in to the playing XI.

His best match came at Mohali against Pakistan in 2005, where he registered his only five-wicket haul in the first innings and came back to bag four more in the second innings. His match figures read 9 for 171.

The 32 year-old’s final Test was also against Pakistan at Bangalore during the same tour.

#4 Praveen Kumar

He can be someone we can refer to as a great performer of swing, if not the master. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, he has got 27 scalps from 6 matches.

Compared to the rest of the bowlers in this list he started off at a regular pace but as everyone witnessed he couldn’t exploit the batsmen with the old ball and offered very little penetration with his medium pacers.

At just 27, he could have been much more of a regular if he had got the conditions he enjoyed in during the tour of England in 2011. He claimed a five-wicket haul at Lords’ where he strolled hard for 40 long overs. That tour was his last Test assignment.

He has got 209 first class wickets from 48 matches with 14 five-fors and 13 four wicket hauls. Impressive, sadly not for international level. With some controversy surrounding him due to his behaviour, one can assume that we’ve seen the last of him for India.

#3 Munaf Patel

The right-arm seamer from Gujarat was then tipped to be the Indian Glenn McGrath. He would be kicking himself for not living up to that expectations even though it was too much of a burden to be shouldering. With 35 wickets from 13 Test matches he is another who clocked regularly in the 140s before dropping down.

Was known for his accurate line and lengths and often found the batsmen wanting with his seam movements from the deck. Banging the ball short he also had a good bouncer that transformed to juicy short length balls later on.

His best match was against England where he ended the match with overall figures of 7-97 when he cleared up the tail with figures of 4 for 25 in second innings on Day 5, that helped India win the match chasing 144.

His last appearance was in 2011 against West Indies. Currently at 30, is not even part of an IPL franchise now.

#2 Umesh Yadav

One of the fastest of the Indian bowlers, he was surprisingly ignored for the upcoming England tour despite having space for as many as seven pace bowlers in squad.

With 32 Wickets from 9 matches, his best match came against Australia at Perth 2012, where he dismissed five Australian batsmen with his pace, surprising the batsmen with his sharp seam movements.

He has a strong arm and his pace has all the qualities to trouble the best in the world. With him, still at 26, his fans can hope that he soon makes a comeback to the national side. The Nagpur born seamer, plays for Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy.

He can tend to stray down the leg side more often attacking the stumps and become predictable at times when a dip in pace due to fatigue in longer formats. That should not stop him from making a comeback with more strong shoulders.

He last played for India in 2012, against England at Ahmedabad.

#1 RP Singh

The wily left-arm seamer is undoubtedly the most costly loss for India considering the fact how much he promised before all vanished too soon. The Uttar Pradesh bowler has 40 wickets to his name from 14 appearances.

He made his debut against bitter rivals Pakistan at Faisalabad during India’s tour in 2006. Picking up 4 wickets in his first innings, he had genuine pace and a good short ball too. He could swing the ball both ways and was particularly effective with his inswing during the later stages of his career.

Despite going away from international cricket, RP Singh is a regular in the IPL and has picked up 125 T20 wickets overall at an economy of 7.60. But he needs to find motivation and form from somewhere which is not going to happen after having missed out on an IPL contract.

He is still 28. All is not lost.

His famous outing came at Lord’s when he captured 5-59 in the second innings before the Indian tail hung on with MS Dhoni to save the Test match. India went on to create history by winning the Pataudi Trophy under Rahul Dravid.

He played his last Test match during the disasterous tour of England 2011, when he was summoned from a holiday.