4 Indians who may never play ODI cricket again

Team India is currently the No.2 side on the ICC ODI rankings. Last 3 years have been very fruitful for India in ODI cricket with the team growing from strength to strength in all departments of the game. As the ICC 2019 World Cup nears, the men in blue will fancy their chances to get their hands on the silverware.

The hallmark of any great side is players putting their team ahead of individual performances and this team India is no different. The selectors spotted the talents, gave them chances to succeed but persisted with them during the times of failure. This patience is reaping rewards today as these talented lads have evolved into matured cricketers.

It takes harsh calls to build a successful team in any format. While it is fair enough to give the players ample opportunities to establish themselves, it is up to the selectors to realize when their time is up and swing the axe. Hence, there are some noted Indian cricketers who have been sacked from the ODI unit and may never be picked again.

Let us take a look at 4 Indian cricketers who may never don the blue ODI clothing again.

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#4 Parthiv Patel

Parthiv Patel's start-stop career never gained momentum.

The pocket-sized dynamo from Gujarat made his international debut at a tender age of 17 and was looked upon to be the next best thing in the Indian cricket. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way and Parthiv Patel was axed.

In his career, Parthiv has played only 38 ODIS scoring 736 runs at an average of 23. He spent a large part his career out of the Indian team as Dhoni became India's preferred wicket-keeper batsman in ODIS. Patel made a couple of brief comebacks in the 2011-12 period but failed to hold on to his place.

Parthiv's last ODI appearance came against Sri Lanka at The Gabba in February 2012. Today, with India having a pool of talented wicket-keeper batsmen like Rishab Pant, Ishan Kishan and Dinesh Karthik already in the team, it looks like the selectors will never turn back to Parthiv Patel again.

#3 Murali Vijay

Vijay failed in limited-overs cricket and was soon branded as only a test batsman.

The Tamil Nadu opener was seen as a good limited-overs prospect before fading away from the ODI setup and establishing himself only in test cricket. Vijay during his days with the Chennai Super Kings showed great promise as an attacking batsman which eventually paved his way into the Indian ODI side.

His sorry ODI career lasted only 17 matches which saw 339 runs at a poor average of 21 and just one ODI fifty. Vijay failed to add consistency to his ODI game and as a result, has never represented India in blue after July 2015.

With India having a well-established opening pair in form of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, Vijay is unlikely to be considered again for the limited-overs role again. Also, India having Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul as back-up further sums up the things for him.

#2 Ishant Sharma

Ishant has been very ineffective in death overs.

The tall, lanky pacer from Delhi has been a heavyweight for India in test cricket. But, in white-ball formats, he is nowhere near penetrative. Ishant's ODI career started off in a promising fashion but soon showed the inability to be effective at the death.

His 80 ODIs have seen 115 wickets at an average of 31. Ishant has been severely criticized for bowling length balls in the death overs, thus giving the batsmen easy balls to hit sixes off. His best performance in ODI cricket is the Champions Trophy 2013 final when he got 2 wickets at a crucial stage.

Ishant made his last ODI appearance in January 2016 against Australia at Sydney. Today, with Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah emerging as robust pacers in the Indian team and a crop of talented pacers waiting in the wings, it is safe to say that there is no place for Ishant Sharma.

#1 Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravi Ashwin's ODI career seems to have ended abruptly.

Ravichandran Ashwin was once considered a very crafty white-ball spinner when he arrived on to the international scene. Soon, he established himself and took Harbhajan's place as the frontline spinner. However, after the 2015 World Cup, his magic with the ball started to fade away.

Quite often, Ashwin was criticized for bowling a leg-stump line instead of tossing the ball up and getting the batsmen to drive. Surprisingly, India's ace off-spinner does not have a five-wicket haul in ODI cricket. In 111 ODIS, Ashwin has 150 wickets to his name. He last played against West Indies in Antigua in June 2017.

With Kuldeep and Chahal having cemented their place firmly in the Indian team, it looks like Ashwin will never wear the blues against for team India. Also, selectors picking Washington Sundar in T20s instead of going back to Ashwin further summed up that they have moved on from him.