3 players who had decent starts to their international career but could not take off

Cricket is followed like a religion in India. With such craze around the game, it is natural that the national team is keenly followed by everyone. That puts a lot of pressure on the team to perform well in all occasions. This gives very few chances for players to prove their talent. Even if they start well, they fall out of favour because a better player comes into the picture.

However, this is how cricket functions in India and no one is to be blamed for that and this competition is helping the Indian team to perform better. Tournaments like IPL have been good for such players to secure their finances. Let us have a look at 3 such players who started well but failed to take off in their careers.

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#1 Jayant Yadav

Once considered as an alternative to Ravi Ashwin, the Haryana player had a wonderful debut series for India against England. Being a genuine off-spinner, Jayant Yadav troubled the left-handers in his debut match. He picked up a three-wicket haul in his first innings. Later in the series, he scored his maiden Test century, batting down the order.

Although he got a few matches after his debut series, he failed to make an impact and was eventually dropped. The main reason for this was that Team India went back to playing 2 spinners in Test matches after experimenting with 3 spinners in the England series. With Ashwin and Jadeja being a certainty in the team, Jayant found it hard to get more chances. He was also constantly troubled by injuries. He was typecast as a Test player and hence got very few opportunities in the IPL which made his chances of getting into the limited overs team very slim.

#2 Manoj Tiwary

Manoj Tiwary was eventually sidelined by the selectors

Manoj Tiwary was one of the best middle-order batting talents that India possessed. Very few opportunities were coming his way because of the tight competition in the Indian team. Manoj did get a few matches against lower ranked teams such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. In fact, he even scored a century in one of the games. However, he did not get a game after that and was never considered for the Indian team again.

He fell out of form in the domestic level and remained unsold in a few IPL auctions. In the 2017 edition of IPL, Manoj was a success with the Rising Pune Supergiants team as he helped them reach the finals with a few vital knocks in the middle. He got picked up by KXIP this year and replaced Yuvraj Singh for a few matches. He did not impress until Yuvi was brought back again into the team. With the Indian team narrowing down the options for the middle-order, Manoj will have it difficult to make a comeback now.

#3 Mandeep Singh

Mandeep has been consistent in the IPL

Mandeep Singh was considered as an India prospect with his performances in the Ranji Trophy and the IPL. He was even awarded the Emerging Player award in one of the IPL seasons. Mandeep got his opportunity to tour Zimbabwe after the 2016 IPL season. Though Mandeep did not get a chance initially, he proved himself by scoring a few runs after he got an opportunity in the final stages of the series.

However, that was the last time Mandeep played for India as his career was marred with injuries and bad form. He missed a Ranji season too due to an injury. He did make a comeback to the domestic circuit and has been scoring runs since then. He was impressive in this season of the IPL too. With more talent getting recognised, Mandeep will have to bat beyond his skin to earn a comeback to the India squad.