5 Kerala Cricketers Who Were Billed To Make It To The National Squad But Lost Their Way

The Kerala Cricket Association is a parent body to as many as 14 districts, yet only two players from the state have gone on to play Test cricket. While Sreesanth and Tinu Yohannan had their own stories to tell, despite making it to the top-most grade of cricket, there have been several other names in Kerala cricket, who had the potential to make it big but were not able to crack the code to make it to the national squad.

Sanju Samson, a popular entity due to the IPL, went on to earn a T20I cap, while Basil Thampi earned a call-up too, but there are other players, famous in the Kerala domestic circles, who would have wished to ascend to the international level, given the talent they exhibited and the records they built for themselves.

Here are five of those:

#5 Sachin Baby

29-year-old Sachin Baby has played over 50 first-class games since 2009, but did not score a single hundred until his 25th game. He has a good domestic record in limited-overs cricket and is known to be a useful off-spinner and a sprightly fielder.

Given his credentials as a useful middle-order batsman, he was drafted into the Rajasthan Royals setup in 2013, where he got to play just one game. He had been a prolific scorer at the junior levels, but could not translate his success at a consistent level for Kerala.

He is currently the captain of the side, and played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore under Virat Kohli for two seasons, and was acquired by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2018 IPL.

He did not get to play a single game in the IPL this year. He was at the receiving end of a rebellion from his Kerala teammates earlier this year, who accused him of being 'selfish and arrogant'.

#4 Prasanth Parameswaran

Prasanth Parameswaran

Born in Kayippuram, Prasanth Parameswaran's journey started when, as a net bowler for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala, he was spotted by coach Geoff Lawson and fast-tracked into the IPL setup. He had done well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2010-11.

A hammer thrower at school, his pace bowling caught everyone's attention and he was handed his IPL debut against the Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2011. He made an instant impact, picking up the wicket of Virender Sehwag in his very first over and picking up one more wicket to clinch the Man of the Match award.

At 6'3'', his height would have made a difference, but he ran into Chris Gayle, who looted 37 runs off one of his overs in an IPL game - which is the most expensive over bowled in IPL history.

He was part of the South Zone team in the 2014 Deodhar Trophy, but hasn't played a first-class game since 2015 and seems to have lost his way.

#3 KN Anathapadmanabhan

KN Anathapadmanabhan had eye-catching numbers in domestic cricket before moving on to become an umpire

Many know him as an IPL umpire, but the Kerala born was a domestic bigwig who played more than a 100 first-class games. Due to the presence of a certain Anil Kumble perhaps, 'Anathan', as he was called, stayed put in domestic cricket, and could not progress further.

His numbers are eye-catching - in 105 games, he picked up 344 wickets, with his googly being one of the most potent weapons on display. He also scored three centuries, including a double hundred that made him stand out in Kerala cricket.

He did well in List A cricket as well, picking up 87 wickets from 54 games, but finished his career in 2004 to venture into umpiring.

He now officiates major domestic matches and has also stood in Indian Premier League games. He was seen umpiring during the 2016 and 2017 editions of the IPL.

#2 Raiphi Gomez

Raiphi Gomez

An all-rounder in Indian cricket is always hot property, and Raiphi Gomez was the medium pace-bowling kind that has been in demand for long. However, despite playing for Kerala for close to 10 years, and becoming the second Kerala player after Sreesanth to bag an IPL contract, Gomez couldn't make his all-round skills count enough to merit a place in the national side.

In 2011, he bagged a bumper ₹3 million deal to play for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala and then went on to play for the Pune Warriors India. He now plays the Premier Limited Overs Tournament in Sri Lanka.

#1 Sreekumar Nair

Sreekumar Nair

A gritty batsman who would play the sheet anchor role when the situation demanded, Sreekumar Nair was one of the biggest batting stars of Kerala cricket, as well as their captain, but never got a spot in the national setup.

He was the first Kerala batsman to hit 300 in an innings, bettering the great Balan Pandit's record, and played 73 games until 2011. He was also a handy slow left-arm bowler.