5 seasoned cricketers who remained loyal to one Ranji team

A country of more than 1.3 billion people, 29 states, and 7 union territories, India has been one of the biggest recipients of cricket advancements. Indian cricket has witnessed a massive surge in talent, the reason for which is the tremendous amount of hard work and efforts laid out in the domestic circuits.

Since the game’s inception into the country in the 19^th century, the domestic tournaments have played an essential role in determining the future of India’s cricket journey. One such tournament that has played host to such an ideology is the Ranji Trophy.

Named after Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji who was the first Indian cricketer to play international cricket, the tournament lays emphasis on the genesis of fresh and new talents who look to make their presence felt on the international scenario. The tournament was established in 1934 and the first match was played between Madras and Mysore.

While the tournament aims to hone the skills of prospective talents, the platform is also laid out perfectly to provide the youth with acres of experience. Most teams are usually bolstered by the presence of some seasoned cricketers who might have featured for India or those who would have represented Ranji teams for a long span of time.

These senior players often rub-off on the budding cricketers and enhance them to increase their skills and prepare for the global scenario.

Owing to the fact that only Indian players and places are involved in the game, there have been players who have shifted base to some other states and represented different teams to intensify the finesse involved in their game.

Here, we try to look at five cricketers who have devoted all their time and talent to just one Ranji team throughout their first-class career, unable to make a large impression on the international scenario.

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#5 Devendra Bundela [Madhya Pradesh, 1995- present]

Bundela exults after getting to a hundred

The backbone of Madhya Pradesh’s Ranji team for more than two decades now, Devendra Bundela, the all-rounder from Indore, Madhya Pradesh has developed a huge name for himself in the domestic scenario.

Having debuted for Madhya Pradesh in 1996 against Tamil Nadu at the young age of 19, Bundela did not have the greatest of beginnings. He could only score 26 runs in his team’s loss. However, Bundela did not deter from the outcome of his first innings. The same season, scores of 72 and a century saw him making strides towards improving his game further.

Two seasons later in the 1998-99 season, Bundela found the best of his form with 1008 runs from 11 matches at an average of 77.53. However, the vast pool of talent in the Indian squad at the prime of his playing form saw him losing out on a place in the national squad.

However, Bundela made most of his opportunities with his Ranji squad and is the highest run-getter for Madhya Pradesh in the first-class scenario. A right-hand batsman and a handy right-arm medium pacer, the 39-year old Bundela continues to represent his state 21 years since his debut and currently serves as the captain of the squad for the 2016-17 season.

#4 Sitanshu Kotak [Saurashtra, 1992-2014]

Sitanshu Kotak was the backbone of Saurashtra’s batting

Saurashtra’s longest serving cricketer, Shistansu Kotak was often known to be a bowler’s nightmare, displaying tremendous amounts of patience and grit to knock the sails out of opponent bowlers.

A prolific left-handed batsman, Kotak amassed 8061 runs in 130 matches at a staggering average of just over 41 and was one of the mainstays of the Saurashtra batting line-up throughout his career. His best performance came in the 1999-2000 Ranji season where he managed to amass a total of 800 runs to his name, leading Saurashtra’s march in that season.

Having represented Saurashtra for 22 years in the domestic scenario, Kotak decided to hang up his boots and left a huge void in Saurashtra cricket. A year later, the 42-year old took up the responsibility of coaching the young brigade to greater heights.

#3 Vijay Merchant [Bombay, 1929-1951]

Vijay Merchant attempts a shot during practice

One of the most prominent domestic batsman during his time, Vijay Merchant is regarded as the ‘Don Bradman’ of Indian domestic cricket with 13740 runs in 150 matches at a stunning average of 71.64.

Winner of the ‘Wisden cricketer of the year’ award in 1937, his first-class career span lasted from 1929 to 1950 and played all his matches for Bombay (Now known as Mumbai).

Apart from the domestic circuit, Vijay Merchant’s prolific run in the domestic tournaments saw him earning a call-up to the national squad, making his debut against England on the 15^th of December 1933, where he mustered scores of 23 and 30 in both innings respectively.

The right-hander featured in just 10 test matches for India owing to the test matches unable to take place due to the second world war and retired in 1951 after showcasing his best batting, scoring an unbeaten 164-run knock against England in his final game.

#2 Vinay Kumar [Karnataka, 2004-present]

Vinay Kumar has been a vital cog in the Karnataka squad

Karnataka’s premier pacer at the moment, Vinay Kumar boasts of acres of Ranji experience under his belt. Vinay made his debut for Karnataka against Bengal in the 2004-05 season and performed relatively well, picking up five wickets in his debut game and ended with a tally of 23 wickets from the whole season.

In the following two seasons, Vinay Kumar was not at his best, picking up 22 and 27 wickets respectively but made up for it in the 2007-08 season when he picked up 40 wickets at an average of 18.52 to end the season as the second highest wicket-taker. In the ensuing 2009-10 season, the pacer from Davangere put up his best performance en route to picking up 46 wickets from eight matches at an outstanding average of 19.69 and continued his splendid form into IPL 2010, where he picked up 16 wickets while playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

At the back of splendid performances in the Ranji trophy and IPL, Vinay was chosen to represent India at the ICC World Twenty20 but could play just a solitary match against Sri Lanka before India’s ouster from the tournament. The same year, Vinay made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe and yet again played just one match prior to his injury.

With 31 ODI’s, 9 T20I’s and just one test match to his credit, the pacer’s national journey has not been the greatest. Nevertheless, his pace variation and clever cutters assisted by his batting prowess have come in very handy for Karnataka in the domestic scenario, a team which he has led to two consecutive title victories in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons since he took over the captaincy in 2010-11.

#1 Murali Karthik [Railways,1996-2014]

Karthik has 664 wickets to his credit

Highly in demand amidst the English county scenario, Murali Kartik’s stint at the national level has not been a fairytale run. When will take a look at Murali Karthik’s career over time, one thing that can be observed were the chances he lost during his prime time, unable to make his presence felt owing to the fabulous chemistry between India’s two best spinners at that time, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Having started off as a medium-pacer, Karthik’s love for mimicking great spinner Bishan Singh Bedi gave him a new perspective which in turn shifted his focus completely to left-arm spin. Kick-starting his juniors years with Delhi, Karthik shifted base to the Railways squad in 1996 to pursue his love for cricket and to hone his skills further.

The left-arm spinner made his first-class debut for Railways in 1996 against Madhya Pradesh and picked up just one wicket but contributed 47 with the bat to help draw the tight game. Right in the next game he made a huge impression by claiming a hat-trick to end up with 6 wickets against Vidarbha and ended the season with a tally of 16 wickets in addition to a wonderful average of 19.37.

With an experience of 203 first-class matches to his credit, Karthik is often regarded as a bowling all-rounder, with his ability to score the necessary runs when needed. Considered a third-choice spinner in the international scenario, Karthik made utmost use of the opportunities in the domestic circuit. Certainly not a mug with the bat, he scored 4423 runs at an average of just over 20 while he picked up 664 wickets at an applaudable average of 26.70.