5 Teenage debutants who went on to become top players

Test cricket is the most entertaining format of the game and requires not just skill but a lot of temperament, concentration and patience. It's tougher for adolescents to perform well in the longer format and be successful at a young age without prior first-class experience.

The game of cricket has seen some cricketers who made their debut in tests at a very young age and went on to have a noteworthy career. These players have been fortunate enough to take their talents to international cricket at a very young age.

Throughout the course of this article, we look at five teenage debutants who went on to become prominent players.

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#5 Daniel Vettori

Daniel Vettori is one of the greatest bowling all-rounders of all-time

Daniel Vettori is one of the greatest bowling all-rounders of all-time. Vettori had a beautiful loop and deceived even the best of the batsmen with his flighted deliveries. He always played to his true potential even on a team that did not have enough fire-power in their bowling attack and shouldered the burden.

Vettori became the youngest New Zealand cricketer to feature in a test match when he played his debut test at the age of 18. England toured New Zealand for a 3-test series in 1997. The first test was drawn and the hosts were looking to win the second test and take the lead. In the second test at Wellington, Daniel Vettori replaced Danny Morrison and made his test debut.

After batting first, the hosts were dismissed for a mere 124 runs. Darren Gough and Andy Caddick combined for 9 wickets. Vettori who came in at number 11 remained not out on 3. In reply, England were looking good at 213-3. That is when the debutant struck to trap the set batsman, Nasser Hussain for 64 runs.

He also picked up the wicket of Andy Caddick and finished with figures of 34.3-10-98-2. New Zealand went on to lose the game by an innings and 68 runs. Vettori then went on to have an illustrious, well-decorated career and ended up picking up 362 test wickets. He also scored 4531 runs at an average of 30.01 with 6 centuries.

#4 Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis delivered consistent performances for Pakistan for a very long time

Waqar Younis is widely recognized as one of the greatest fast bowlers to have played the sport of cricket. He was known for his toe-crushing deliveries and was a nightmare even for the world's best batsmen. Waqar featured in 87 test matches for Pakistan and picked up 373 wickets and is currently second on the list of highest wicket-takers for Pakistan in tests.

He collected his test cap one day before turning 18 against India. Pakistan hosted India for 3-test series in 1989. In the first test at Karachi, the host batted first after winning the toss. They went on to post a good total of 409 in the first innings. Manoj Prabhakar was the pick of the bowlers with 5 wickets. Kapil Dev also came up big with 4 wickets.

In return, India got demolished for just 262 runs by the Akram-Waqar duo with each picking up 4 wickets. The debutant was very impressive and ran through the Indian middle-order and the hosts managed to blank out the visitors without breaking a sweat.

The match eventually ended in a draw and Waqar Younis went on to have a terrific career for Pakistan and dominated the opposition batsmen every time he came to bowl.

#3 Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh is only the third Indian bowler to have more than 400 scalps to his name

Harbhajan Singh, along with leg-spinner Anil Kumble carried the spin bowling responsibility for India for over a decade. He was a proven game-changer in the longer format of the game and is only the third Indian bowler to have more than 400 test scalps.

The Turbanator made his dream debut at the age of 17 in the third test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy in 1998. India won the toss and chose to bat first at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. The hosts racked up 424 on the back of a century from Sachin Tendulkar.

Harbhajan Singh got his first test wicket very early in the first innings as he trapped Greg Blewett for just 4 runs. Australia were cruising along at 249-3 with a 106-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Mark Waugh and Darren Lehman. The debutant came up alive once again and picked up Lehman's wicket to break the partnership. He finished the innings with decent figures of 23-1-112-2.

India eventually went on to lose the game and Singh remained wicketless in the second innings with the visitors chasing down the paltry target of 194 in just 58 overs. The doosra king then went on to become one of the country's greatest spinners and troubled the batsmen all around the world with a variety of deliveries.

#2 Wasim Akram

The sultan of swing impressed with his performance in the debut match against New Zealand

Wasim Akram is a name that will remain in the hearts of cricket fans all over the world forever. Akram destroyed batting lineups every time he stepped his foot on a cricket field with his in-swingers, bouncers and yorkers. He picked up wickets at will and graced international cricket with his wonderful skill. He is the leading wicket-taker for Pakistan and picked up whopping 414 wickets.

Akram made his debut at 18 years of age against Kiwis at Auckland. The sultan of swing had a decent game and impressed the crowd with his performance. In his debut test, Pakistan were bundled out for just 169 runs in the first innings with Sir Richard Hadlee picking up 4 wickets. Akram was dismissed for a duck and he knew had to prove himself with the ball.

When the Kiwis came out to bat, Akram got rid of the opener John Wright when the team was cruising along at 108-1. However, John Reid's big innings took the hosts to 451-9 before they declared. The debutant finished the innings with figures of 34.4-4-105-2.

Pakistan got all-out for just 183 in the second innings and suffered an embarrassing defeat by an innings and 99 runs. However, Wasim Akram came back with an incredible performance in the next test and picked up 10 wickets in the game. Despite Akram's heroics, the hosts managed to hold on to win again.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar made his debut at a very young age and went on to become the GOAT

This should hardly be a surprise to anyone. Sachin Tendulkar is widely acclaimed as the greatest batsman of all-time and made his mark on the game of cricket and changed it forever. The little master is a demi-god in India and carried the bulk of India's batting load on his shoulders for 24 years.

The little master made his test debut at a very young age of 16 years and went on to become the most prolific run-scorer of all-time. Sachin made his debut when India toured Pakistan for a 4-test series against the arch-rivals.

The kid from Mumbai donned his first test-cap for India in the first test at Karachi. The hosts were forced to bat first and scored a high total of 409, on the back of a beautiful century from Imran Khan.

Sachin came out to bat in India's first innings with scoreboard reading 41-4. However, he did not have a great outing as he got dismissed for just 15 off 24 balls with 2 fours. He got clean bowled off Waqar Younis' bowling.

The 16-year old did not get to bat in the second innings and the match eventually ended in a draw. However, Sachin bounced back from the failure much like he did for the most part of his career and scored a fighting half-century in the first innings of the second test at Faisalabad.