5 Indian cricketers who are famous for their one-off performance

Indian cricket has seen many legends take the field in the last 80 years
Indian cricket has seen many legends take the field in the last 80 years

Indian cricket has seen a lot of champions in its 76-year cricketing history. Lala Amarnath, Vijay Hazare and Vinoo Mankad put Indian cricket on the right track.

With the arrival of the charismatic Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricket consolidated its position with its first ever overseas victory. Sunil Gavaskar's performances put India on the world map while Kapil Dev's leadership during the 1983 World Cup brought India, its first big moment in cricket.

The 1990s was all about Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble; with the advent of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni, Indian cricket changed forever. With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma at the helm of current affairs, anything less than excellence is considered to be a major red flag.

India has become a force due to these champions and there were many who did their bit on the way. After all, India has seen 293 Test cricketers, 222 ODI cricketers and 78 T20 cricketers and there were many who had brilliant one-off performances.

They could not establish themselves to have a long career. Nevertheless, they are still remembered for that one day where they stole the limelight:


#5 Hrishikesh Kanitkar - One boundary hero versus Pakistan, Independence Cup 1998

Kanitkar played just 34 ODIs for India
Kanitkar played just 34 ODIs for India

Hrishikesh Kanitkar, an elegant left-handed batsman was the son of former India Test cricketer Hemant Kanitkar. He was one of the most consistent batsmen in the history of Ranji Trophy having scored a total of 8509 runs.

Kanitkar scored 33 hundreds scoring 10522 FC runs in 148 matches at an average of 52.1. The Maharashtra lad also played a couple of Test matches for India and made his debut in 2000 against Australia in Sydney.

Kanitkar is fondly remembered for his cameo against Pakistan in the Independence Cup in Dhaka in 1998. Chasing a mammoth 316 in 48 overs, Ganguly and Robin Singh had set the platform.

Kanitkar, coming in at number 7 scored an important unbeaten 11. With 9 required off the last over, he farmed the strike with Javagal Srinath and hit the all-important winning boundary when 3 was required off 2 balls.

#4 Joginder Sharma - Final over star versus Pakistan, 2007 World T20

No Indian can forget the scenes of joy
No Indian can forget the scenes of joy

Joginder Sharma, who hails from Haryana made sporadic appearances in the Indian team between 2004 and 2007. He was a bowling all-rounder who played 44 first-class matches, scoring 4 centuries at 30.5 and taking 200 wickets at 21.00.

Joginder played in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings and after leaving cricket, he is currently serving as an AIGP for Haryana Police.

However, the first thing that comes to the mind when we think about Joginder Sharma is the last over he bowled against Pakistan in the Final of the 2007 World T20. He bowled a wide and got smacked for a six over long-on.

What followed after was a stuff of dreams as Joginder held his nerve and bowled a slower delivery, which Misbah-Ul-Haq scooped to short fine leg and was caught by Sreesanth.

The Haryana pacer also took 2 wickets against Australia in the Semi-finals.

#3 Sunil Joshi (5/6 against South Africa in 1999)

Joshi could never truly establish in the team due to the presence of Kumble and Harbhajan
Joshi could never truly establish in the team due to the presence of Kumble and Harbhajan

Sunil Joshi was an all-rounder from Karnataka who represented India during the late '90s. He was a left-arm spinner and a useful lower-order batsman.

Having represented India in 15 tests and 69 ODIs between 1996 - 2002, Joshi came from a humble background from a small town called Gadag in Karnataka and became one of the top all-rounders in domestic cricket, scoring 5129 runs and picking up 615 wickets in 160 FC games.

Sunil Joshi is fondly remembered for his magical spell against South Africa in an ODI game in Nairobi in 1999. South Africa batted first and were crippled by Indian spinners with Joshi leading the way with an unimaginable 10-6-6-5.

He snared Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Hansie Cronje, Jonty Rhodes and Shaun Pollock as the Proteas were bundled out for 117. India won the match comfortably by 8 wickets with 28 overs to spare.

#2 Stuart Binny - 6/4 versus Bangladesh, 2014

Binny helped India to a famous win that day
Binny helped India to a famous win that day

Stuart Binny is the son of former India Test cricketer Roger Binny and the husband of the famous television presenter Mayanti Langer.

He has been a batting all-rounder for Karnataka, RCB and Rajasthan Royals. Binny has played 6 Tests, 14 ODIs and 3 T20Is for India. He has had a decent FC career scoring 4332 runs in 88 matches with 10 centuries. His medium fast pace bowling has helped him collect 135 FC wickets.

Binny is mostly remembered for his record-breaking spell against Bangladesh in Dhaka. India managed a paltry 105 after being asked to bat. Bangladesh were expected to win and they made a positive start scoring 44/2 in 12 overs.

Binny's introduction changed the scenario as he demolished the Bangla batting line-up with 6 wickets in 4.2 overs for a paltry 4 runs. Binny now holds the record for the best ODI figures by an Indian bowler and the cheapest 6-fer ever.

#1 Karun Nair - 303* versus England, 2016

Nair was unstoppable that day
Nair was unstoppable that day

Karun Nair is one of the most promising batsmen in India who hasn't got enough opportunities to show his true worth to the team. He plays for Karnataka in FC cricket and has also represented Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in IPL.

Having made his debut in 2013-14, he was instrumental in Karnataka's Ranji Trophy win that season. He has consistently scored runs in First Class cricket with 4522 runs in 63 matches and 13 hundreds.

Karun is fondly remembered for his breathtaking maiden triple-hundred against England in Chennai. England batted first after winning the toss and scored 477 in their first innings. Karun walked in at 211/3 and started his innings on a positive note ending the day unbeaten on 71.

He came into his own on the Day 4, where he hammered English bowlers with his innovative shots and played his full range of sweeps against the spinners. Karun scored 303 and India mounted 759/7, their ever highest Test total and England lost the match by an innings and 75 runs.

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Edited by Debjyoti Samanta