5 Indian all-rounders who disappeared after bright starts

All-rounders have always played a vital role in building successful teams. Batsmen who can bowl well, or bowlers with batting skills, greatly help in balance a squad.

India have had a few great all-rounders in the past, although they have struggled to find one in recent times. Before the 2000s, the likes of Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Vinoo Makand etc had all left their mark in world cricket with their versatile brilliance.

In the 2000s, there have been a lot of promising all-rounders who started well but couldn't last for a long time due to a number of different reasons. Here, we look at five of those Indian all-rounders who impressed in the beginning but disappeared soon.

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#5 Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan

The only Indian to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match, the ICC Emerging Player of the Year in 2004, the player of the 2007 World T20 final - Irfan Pathan was once India's premier all-rounder.

The junior Pathan made his debut in the 2003-04 Border Gavaskar Trophy and impressed one and all with his pace and swing. Later, he displayed his batting skills as well, and in 2005 he was promoted up the order. He even delivered on a few occasions with his hard-hitting abilities.

However, the Baroda-born cricketer couldn't maintain his form and lost his place in the team. He made a couple of comebacks but with injuries not leaving him alone, the all-rounder couldn't cement his place in the team again.

In his long yet on and off-career, Pathan has over 1100 runs and 100 Test wickets while in ODIs he registered 1544 ODI runs and 173 scalps.

Right now Pathan is acting as the mentor-cum-coach for Jammu and Kashmir, having left his native state Baroda last year.

#4 Joginder Sharma

Joginder Sharma

The name Joginder Sharma might be out of the news now, but who can forget his last over against Pakistan in 2007. He got the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq, handing India their maiden T20 World Cup Trophy.

The Haryana born cricketer made his ODI debut for India in 2004 as an all-rounder. In his second match, he made a fiery 22-ball 29 down the order against Bangladesh, ensuring India's victory.

He was then axed from the squad due to his inconsistent returns. He made a comeback in later years, but disappeared after playing some matches.

#3 Rishi Dhawan

Rishi Dhawan

The flamboyant Himachal Pradesh cricketer Rishi Dhawan is also one of those Indian all-rounders who faded away after a promising start. The medium-pacer who bats down the order debuted for India in 2016 after some fantastic domestic numbers.

But he only appeared in a handful of matches for India before fading from the scene. The 28-year-old played for various franchises in IPL and kept himself in the limelight. However, after Hardik Pandya took over, he failed to get any more chances.

#2 Stuart Binny

Stuart Binny

The Karnataka based all-rounder Stuart Binny was also a part of Team India for a while, playing 14 ODI and 6 Test matches before getting dropped. He played some quickfire knocks and troubled batsmen with his seam bowling initially, but nothing of that lasted for long.

His consistently unimpressive run made him lose his place in the team and he is yet to make a comeback. However, he continues to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and some domestic tournaments.

#1 Jayant Yadav

Jayant Yadav

A century, a fifty and many wickets within the span of four Test matches surely speaks volumes about the promising start that Jayant Yadav had to his career. The right-handed batsman and off-break bowler also played a solitary ODI, but suddenly faded away and hasn't been able to reappear yet.

The 28-year-old plays domestic cricket for Haryana, and is a part of the Delhi Capitals squad in IPL. Lately, he hasn't been performing that well in the domestic arena either.