5 batsmen who were overshadowed by India's 'Fab Four'

Over the years, India has produced several quality batsmen, but not all of them have gone on to represent the national team. There have been a lot of players who’ve performed consistently in domestic cricket and yet haven’t got enough chances at the international level to prove themselves.

Especially during the era of the 'Fab Four' (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly), several Indian batsmen were overshadowed. Here we look at five such batsmen who didn’t get enough chances.

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5. Wasim Jaffer

Wasim Jaffer played 31 Test matches for India and averaged 34.10.

Wasim Jaffer was an opener and a gritty one at that. Having made his debut in 2000, he played only 31 Tests in eight years. Often his contributions went unnoticed due to the presence of stalwarts in the team.

He battled it out in tough conditions: some of his best knocks came away from home in harsh conditions. The 212 in Antigua and 116 at Newlands were some of his best knocks for India. Another knock that was brilliant was his 62 against England at Trent Bridge in 2007 (which India won) helping the side off to a good start.

Although Jaffer did have a middling average of 34.10, he often blunted out the new ball, making it a tad bit easier for the middle-order. But with other players (stalwarts) making more significant contributions, he was often overshadowed. And after a few failures, he was dropped in 2008.

Even after getting dropped, Jaffer continued to pile on the runs in domestic cricket. He is currently the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy history. In fact, he has scored more than 17,000 runs in first-class cricket and hence, it won’t be wrong to term Wasim Jaffer as a domestic legend.

4. Amol Muzumdar

Amol Muzumdar is now seen commentating in domestic games in India.

It is quite an astonishing fact that the second-highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy cricket has never represented India in any format. He is also a seven-time Ranji Trophy winner. Like Wasim Jaffer, Amol Muzumdar is a Ranji Trophy great.

For a man who could deal with pressure exceptionally well, it was a pity that he didn’t play international cricket. With Mumbai not having the services of Sachin Tendulkar, Sanjay Manjrekar and Vinod Kambli, Amol Muzumdar made his debut in the 1993/94 Ranji Trophy pre-quarter-final game and made a scintillating 260 against Haryana.

Muzumdar went onto play 171 first-class matches and scored 11,167 runs at an average of 48.13. Those runs included 30 hundreds and 60 fifties. Unfortunately, his career coincided with that of the 'Fab Four'. Even after scoring heavily in domestic cricket, he never got a chance to represent India at the highest level.

3. Mohammed Kaif

Kaif didn't get many opportunities in Test cricket.

There are two memories of Mohammed Kaif that would undoubtedly remain etched in Indian cricket history. One would be the 2002 Natwest Tri-series final, where he played a match-winning knock, taking India home when all hopes were lost. And the second would be the fielding partnership he formed with Yuvraj Singh.

However, all his career-highs came in the Blue jersey (in limited-overs cricket). He played only 13 Test matches for India that were scattered over five years. He did not make any significant contributions in his first few games.

2006 turned out to be a standout year for Kaif. When Sachin Tendulkar was out injured, and Sourav Ganguly was unceremoniously sacked, Kaif scored 317 runs in five Tests which included a 148 in West Indies.

But after the big names returned, Kaif was left out of the squad and could never make it back to the national team, even after the star players retired.

2. Subramaniam Badrinath

Subramaniam Badrinath played his last first-class game in December 2016.

Subramaniam Badrinath was a run-machine for Tamil Nadu. He had a reliable technique and was known for his grit. Also, he will be fondly remembered for his exploits in the IPL for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, he got to play only a handful of games for India.

After years of consistent performances in domestic cricket, Badrinath got his chance to represent India. He first represented the national team in ODIs in 2008. It was the same series in which Virat Kohli made his debut.

In his debut game, the Tamil Nadu batsman guided India to a three-wicket win, chasing a tricky target. But with no big score or a significant contribution, Badrinath was dropped.

He was picked for the South Africa series at home in 2010 when few of the first-choice players were out injured. He played both Test matches. On debut, he made a fighting 56 against a rampaging South African bowling attack, led by Dale Steyn. But he failed to perform in the other two innings he batted and was subsequently dropped as big names returned from injury.

But Badrinath continued to score a lot of runs in domestic cricket and is the sixth-highest run-scorer (7850) in Ranji Trophy history.

1. Hrishikesh Kanitkar

Hrishikesh Kanitkar scored 33 first-class tons.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar may not be a popular name. But his name will be remembered for his match-winning boundary (on the penultimate ball of the game) against Pakistan in the Independence Cup final in 1998. He was probably one of the most unfortunate players who didn’t get enough chances, especially in Test matches.

Kanitkar made his international debut in an ODI in 1997 against Sri Lanka but didn’t get to bat in that game. After his last-over heroics against Pakistan (in his third game), Kanitkar made a run-a-ball 57 against Australia. However, he couldn’t keep his excellent touch going as he found it difficult to find consistency.

He made his Test debut during the 1999/2000 Australia tour where India were whitewashed. He made only 11 in his first innings at the MCG but scored a fighting 45 in the second innings. In his second Test, he could only manage 18 runs and was axed from the team.

However, the Pune-born batsman continued to pile on the runs in domestic cricket after getting dropped. But with the likes of VVS Laxman excelling at the right time, Kanitkar never managed to return to the Indian team.

He has scored over 10,000 runs in domestic cricket at an average of 52.26. In fact, he is fifth on the list of highest run-getters in Ranji Trophy history.