5 Indian cricketers who played just one ODI

Getting a call-up to the national team takes years of excellent performances at the domestic level and a commensurate level of hard work.

When a player finally gets selected to the national team it is, without a doubt, a major accomplishment. When it comes to India, it is even tougher, since there is a far bigger pool of players to choose from.

However, selection in the team is only the first step and the player needs to come good fairly quickly. That being said, one ODI game is hardly enough to judge the abilities of a player and over the course of India's cricket history, some players failed to get a look in after failing to impress in their debut game.

Here is a look at 5 of them, who should have actually played more.

5. Dodda Ganesh

Dodda Ganesh

The right-arm fast bowler was one of the most promising bowlers in India back in the mid 1990s and considering the fact that Dodda Ganesh emerged as the top bowler for Karnataka (a team which boasted of bowlers like Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble), it was only a matter of time before he was selected for the national team.

Ganesh was picked for the tough tour to South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1996-97 and it was then that he made his ODI debut. The game was played at Bulawayo and India lost the game miserably after they had been shot out for 168 batting first.

In response, Zimbabwe won comfortably by 8 wickets but one of the 2 wickets to fall was taken by Ganesh. He bowled five overs, gave away 20 runs and picked up the solitary wicket.

Although he played four Test matches for India, he was never selected for an ODI ever again. Perhaps it was a bit too harsh on him.

4. Pankaj Singh

Pankaj Singh

The fast bowler from Rajasthan has been one of the most prolific wicket-takers in Indian domestic cricket, and after his brilliant show in the 2009 season, Pankaj Singh was selected to play for India in a tri-series in Zimbabwe the following year.

In a tournament in which India were trying out plenty of promising cricketers, Singh was selected to play in a game against Sri Lanka at Bulawayo. India batted first and got 268. Singh opened the bowling for India but proved largely ineffective and went for 45 runs in his 7 overs.

The performance proved to be fatal and he was never selected again to play in ODIs. However, he continued to perform well in domestic cricket and in 2014, he was selected to play in a Test series in England.

He could not make much of an impression and that probably closed the door as far as any possibility of making a comeback to the ODI set up was concerned.

The story could have been different had he been selected for ODIs prior to the tour of England, when he was in good form.

3. Parvez Rasool

Parvez Rasool

The off-spinner from Kashmir came into prominence at the national level following his stellar shows in domestic cricket and under the guidance of legendary Indian spinner Bishen Singh Bedi, Parvez Rasool was touted as the next big thing in Indian spin bowling after the 2012-13 season.

Eventually, his record could not be ignored anymore and Rasool was selected to play for India. Although he is an off-spinner in the classical mould, he is extremely accurate and generates enough 'dip' to always keep the batsmen guessing.

He has shown that consistency whenever he played in the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad, as well as the Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, on his debut, things did not quite go to plan as he ended up being the most expensive bowler in the Indian bowling attack, in a game against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2014.

He gave away 60 runs in 10 overs, but managed to pick up 2 wickets, with India winning the game in the end. However, another call-up has not been forthcoming and it is unlikely that he will be able to make a return to the squad.

2. Pankaj Dharmani

Pankaj Dharmani keeping wickets against Nasser Hussain

The Punjab wicketkeeper-batsman was a heavy scorer in the domestic circuit in the early to mid-1990s and it was no surprise when Pankaj Dharmani was eventually called up to the Indian team for the Titan Cup tri-series held in India in 1996. The tournament also included South Africa and Australia.

Dharmani was handed his debut in a game against the South Africans at Jaipur. He played as a batsman and scored a run-a-ball 8 as India failed to chase 250 in 50 overs.

Nayan Mongia was then the designated wicketkeeper and despite the fact that India were actively looking for a keeper who could contribute with the bat, Dharmani never got to play in ODIs ever again. He continued to play superbly for Punjab, but another call-up to the Indian team never quite materialised.

Maybe, he could have been given a few more chances before he was summarily dismissed.

1. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar

BS Chandrasekhar was part of the famous Indian spin quartet

He is one of the greatest spin bowlers to have ever played the game and throughout the course of his stellar Test career, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar became one of the most influential bowlers in the Test team. He remains one of the greatest bowlers as far as Test cricket goes, but no one will quite know how he would have fared as an ODI bowler since he only ever played one game.

In addition to that, he performed quite well in that game and it is perhaps one of Indian cricket's abiding mysteries that Chandrasekhar did not play more than that. He made his ODI debut three years prior to his retirement in the second game of two-match series in Auckland.

New Zealand batted first and in a 35-over game, Chandrasekhar proved to be the best bowler for his side. He was the most economical with an economy rate of 3.85 and was the highest wicket-taker with returns of 3 for 36 in his 7 overs. India lost the game by 80 runs but it will always be remembered as the Indian leg-spin legend's ODI debut and what could have been had he decided to play more limited overs games.