5 Indian wicket-keepers who played less than 10 Tests

Indian nets x
Deep Dasgupta played only eight Tests in his brief career

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s foray into international cricket during the mid 2000s resolved India’s much debated conundrum- the search for a reliable wicket-keeper batsman. However, prior to that, Indian cricket had its fair share of woes in this particular department of the game.

India’s wicket-keeping struggle started from Nayan Mongia’s eviction in 2000 and ended with Dhoni’s introduction in 2004. In between the two stalwarts, the selectors drafted in several wicket-keepers. However, none of them could survive the rigours of playing at the highest level for a significant stretch of time.

Let us take a close look at five Indian wicket-keepers who played less than ten Test matches.


#5 Deep Dasgupta - 8 Tests

Deep Dasgupta, the right-handed wicket-keeper batsman from Kolkata, was a skilled cricketer. However, he played only 8 Tests for India and scored 344 runs at an average of 28.66. He made his debut in 2001 at Bloemfontein against South Africa and immediately impressed with a gutsy knock.

He scored 34 runs off 71 balls against the Proteas pace-battery of Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini. After the opening Test, he was promoted to the opening slot. The right-hander responded with a patient innings of 63 runs off 281 balls.

His most significant performance came against England when he racked up his maiden Test ton at Chandigarh. However, after the home series, he played only a handful of matches. Five months after his debut, Dasgupta last represented India in Test cricket against West Indies in Georgetown.

#4 Ajay Ratra - 6 Tests

Ajay Ratra
Ajay Ratra kept wickets for India during their 2002 tour of England

Ajay Ratra, the former wicket-keeper batsman from Haryana, had a short yet eventful Test career. In 6 matches, he could only score 163 runs at a modest average of 18.11. However, to be fair to him, he played all of those matches in West Indies and England.

With scores of 0, 2, 1 and 13 in the first couple of Tests at Port of Spain and Bridgetown in 2002, he made an awful start to his Test career. Nevertheless, he stormed to his maiden Test ton in the third Test at St John's and therefore became the youngest keeper to rack up a Test century at the age of 20.

Subsequently, Ratra perished for quite a few low scores and finally lost his place to Parthiv Patel. The current Punjab coach played his final game during India's tour of England in the summer of 2002.

#3 Sameer Dighe - 6 Tests

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Sameer Dighe exults after helping India win the deciding Test of the 2001 Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Sameer Dighe made his debut at Chennai during the third Test of India’s victorious campaign against Australia in 2001. He perished cheaply to Shane Warne in the first innings, but came back to score a priceless 22 not out when India were struggling to chase down 155 runs in the fourth innings.

The knock helped India to not only win the match but also the series by a margin of 2-1. In the same year, the Indian team toured Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. During those trips, Dighe was unable to get any substantial score under his belt.

Consequently, he lost his place in the Team and never made a comeback thereafter. He played his final game against Sri Lanka at Colombo. The current Mumbai coach finished his Test career with 141 runs in 6 games at an average of 15.66.

#2 MSK Prasad - 6 Tests

MSK Prasad
MSK Prasad currently serves as Chairman of India's selection panel

Mannava Sri Kanth Prasad played 6 Tests and scored 106 runs at a dismal average of 11.71. He also took 15 catches in a career that lasted for two and half months. He was inconsistent with the bat and never came to terms with the longest format of the sport.

In 10 innings, he got into double figures as many as six times but couldn’t convert any of them into a big score. He mostly batted lower down the order apart from being sent in to open during the third Test of India’s tour of Australia in 1999.

He returned with scores of 5 and 3 respectively and the match turned out to be his last in Test cricket. Prasad is currently the Chairman of Selectors for the Indian team.

#1 Vijay Dahiya - 2 Tests

Vijay Dahiya
Vijay Dahiya was not able to hold on to his position in the Indian team

Vijay Dahiya, during his playing days for Delhi, was a consistent cricketer at the domestic level. He was a safe gloveman behind the wickets and was also a handy batsman. However, during his career, he could only play a couple of Test matches for India.

Dahiya made his debut against Zimbabwe at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. He was slotted to come lower down the order. India lost only four and three wickets respectively in both their innings. As a result, he never got an opportunity to bat.

He played his next game at Nagpur which turned out to be his final Test. Afterwards, he never came back in contention for a Test slot. He is currently the assistant coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in the Indian Premier League.

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Edited by Ram Kumar