#7 Nilesh Kulkarni
Nilesh Kulkarni, who played for Mumbai in first-class cricket for many years, earned his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1997. On one of the flattest and most lifeless pitches ever, he remarkably took the wicket of Marvan Atapattu off his very first delivery in Test cricket, giving him the distinction of being the only Indian bowler to do so even to this day. But the left-arm spinner soon got a reality check as Sri Lanka went on to score a staggering 952/6 from 271 overs, with Kulkarni conceding 195 runs from 70 overs for just one wicket.
Kulkarni played one more Test against Sri Lanka at home that same year before being recalled four years later for the 3rd Test against Australia in Chennai during the historic 2001 series. But match figures of 1/137 put an end to Kulkarni’s hopes of adding to his Test appearances, leaving him with a mere 2 wickets from his 3 Tests.
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