5 great Indian spinners who never played for the national team

India has been a spin oriented nation in the world of cricket and has produced some of the game's greatest spinners. From the sixties on, India has consistently produced spinners of supreme quality who all come up through the ranks of the domestic circuit in the country.

Representing the country is the dream of every cricketer but only a select few reach the level required to make the cut.

However, an elite few spinners through the generations have risen through the ranks in the Ranji Trophy and still haven't gotten the opportunity to represent their nation.

Here we take a look at five spinners who fall into this category.

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#1 Rajinder Goel

Born in Narwana, Haryana, Rajinder Goel played Ranji cricket for Haryana and Delhi over a career that spanned 20 years. A left-arm orthodox spinner, Goel amassed a massive total of 637 wickets in the Ranji trophy, a record that still stands to date.

Goel's rise in Indian cricket coincided with India's greatest spin quartet of Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavanand Bhagwat Chandrasekhar.

Despite being a prolific wicket-taker, with 53 five-fors and 17 ten-wicket match hauls, Goel never won a cap for the national side during his 20 years in Indian cricket. Goel was recently named as a recipient of the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award this season by the BCCI, honouring the great spinners career.

Goel remains one of Indian cricket's unsung heroes and will go down in history as one of the greatest domestic players, if not the greatest, to have never represented his country.

#2 Padmakar Shivalkar

A product of the famous Shivaji Park Gymkhana, Padmakar Shivalkar was a prolific left-arm spinner who represented Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, amassing a staggering 589 wickets during his career.

Born in 1940, Mumbai, Shivalkar was also denied a chance to represent his country despite being a potent wicket-taking threat in domestic cricket.

An orthodox spinner, Shivalkar was another player who was denied an opportunity because of the lethal spin quartet India had through the 60s and 70s.

An astonishing 42 five-wicket hauls and 13 ten-wicket match hauls were still not enough at the time for selectors to pick the Mumbai born spinner.

Shivalkar along with Goel will receive the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award from the BCCI, honouring the spinners accomplishments in domestic cricket. Shivalkar averaged a stellar 19.69 in 124 matches over a 26-year career.

#3 Sarkar Talwar

Agra born, right-arm off break spinner, Sarkar Talwar was another victim of the spin quarter and a few other bowlers at the time like Maninder Singh who was picked ahead of the Haryana player.

Having amassed a brilliant tally of 357 wickets in 106 matches, over a twenty-year career in domestic cricket, Talwar was down in the pecking order at the time, with Goel and Shivalkar also pushing for a place.

A cricketer with bags of ability, Talwar like Goel and Shivalkar would have got a shot in any other national team, at any other time. He retired from cricket in 1988.

#4 Syed Hyder Ali

A member of the Railways Ranji team of the 70s and 80s, Syed Hyder Ali a left-arm orthodox spinner along with Sarkar Talwar caused teams many problems over a twenty-four year period.

Ali is another great domestic cricketer who never got the opportunity to represent his country at an international level.

Ali bagged 366 wickets in 113 matches for Railways. A prominent spinner during his career, Ali will be remembered for his spellbinding performances with a career best of 9/25 with a superb average of 19.17.

#5 KN Ananthapadmanabhan

A right-arm leg-spinner, born in Kerala, KN Ananthapadmanabhan, or Ananthan, as he is commonly referred, played Ranji cricket for Kerala during the nineties. Ananthan represented Kerala for over 14 years and picked up a brilliant tally of 344 wickets in 105 matches.

Ananthan was also a decent right-hand bat scoring a double century in his career and sometimes played the role of an all-rounder. Anil Kumble was India’s premier leg break spinner in the nineties and Ananthan never managed to represent his country.

Currently, an umpire and still involved in the game, Ananthan officiates domestic matches in the country.