When the Indian selectors announced the squad for the 2017 Champions Trophy, many felt that a safe squad had been chosen. In the past, there have been a few players, who have found a place in the squad, not all of whom would be remembered by the supporters.
We look at 5 such players in this list:
5.R Vinay Kumar
The Karnataka cricketer was picked as a backup seamer option in the squad for the 2013 edition of the competition. Vinay Kumar was in the scheme of things in the previous 1.5-2 years, having played in the Test and limited-overs series in Australia in late 2011 and early 2012 and some decent performances in some of the matches earned him a place in the squad.
He had a good season of IPL and that further pushed his case to feature in the squad for the event. While he did not play any of the matches, he can say that he too, like many others was part of a major tournament-winning squad.
Vinay Kumar last played for India in November 2013.
4.Sridharan Sriram
A prolific run-getter in the domestic circuit, Sridharan Sriram was picked in the Indian squad for the 2000 Champions trophy, along with a bunch of other new talents like Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan etc.
Although Sriram did not play a single game in the competition, he was part of an Indian squad, whose members played a new, fresh brand of cricket, led by an aggressive captain and reached the finals of the competition.
Sriram played his last game for India in 2004 and was part of the Australian support staff that toured for the Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year.
3.Rohan Gavaskar
Another cricketer who came into Indian setup on the back of some excellent domestic performances. Rohan Gavaskar had made his India debut in the limited-overs leg of India’s tour to Australia in 2003/04 and made an impact in his very first game when he removed Andrew Symonds of his first over in international cricket, a one-handed caught-and-bowled accounting for the right-hander. He also scored a half-century against Zimbabwe in the same series.
9 months later, he found himself playing for India in his first ever major event- the Champions Trophy in England. Picked for the crunch match against Pakistan at Edgbaston, the left-hander made 13 runs before getting out caught behind off the bowling of Abdul Razzaq.
India bowed out of the competition early and sadly for Gavaskar, he was never picked again to play for India.
2.Abhishek Nayar
The Mumbai all-rounder was picked in the Indian squad for the 2009 edition of the Champions Trophy in SouthnAfrica and played in the third Group game of the competition against the West Indies.
Earlier that year, he had made his ODI debut against the same opposition and in all the three games that he played during his career, Nayar did not get a chance to bat in any of them.
That Champions Trophy match is so far the all-rounder’s last outing in India colours.
1.Jai Prakash Yadav
The Madhya Pradesh cricketer was picked as the all-rounder in the side for the 2002 edition of the competition. This was Yadav’s maiden international call-up and although he didn’t play a single game in the competition, he was part of the squad that jointly won te competition in Sri Lanka.
Later that year, he made his debut for India at home against West Indies and after a gap of three years, was recalled to the side that went to Zimbabwe for a Test and ODI series. He last played for India in November 2005.
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