The Revenge Trial - Vote for the worst Indian Pacers in last 2 decades!

Indemnity clause acceptance: Before making this list, we are totally aware of the fact that these are professional athletes that we are making fun of, who are a million times more talented than mocking losers like us can ever be. They have played at the highest level and made the country proud (Ok, we take back that making country proud bit). We fully understand that we can be tried and prosecuted under The Good Samaritan Law (with stricter clauses ever since Randiv tried to put one past Sehwag. Lawmakers are not fools. Not always.)

As an Indian cricket fan growing in the 90′s, we have horrific memories of our fast bowlers running into bowl. It seemed like watching a slow-motion replay of bowling run-up and delivery when compared to the express pacers the other teams had. Pakistan had toe-crushers, West Indies had rib-breakers, South Africa had teeth-knockers. Indian team, in turn, boasted of rib-ticklers and cheek-kissers. The rival team batsmen enjoyed facing these bowlers as the ball neither spun, nor had any pace (with the exception of Prasad who spun the ball viciously, confusing the batsmen with his fast bowler like run-up). It was a pleasant surprise for the batsmen to face these bowlers with the same talent level as backyard cricketers. They made the most of the picnic.

But, like true Indian fans, we haven’t forgotten the frustration, the agony, the pain of supporting a team with seamers whose balls were hit back with the double their delivery speed. It is payback time! We are going to extract revenge for every tear that we shed. And, as fellow sufferers, we invite you to take part in the trial too.

The method is simple. Just go through the list of the guilty, and pass your verdict in terms of a thumbs-down (or multiple if you please) as punishment or give a thumbs-up (think twice though, recall all the bad memories) if you think the guilty does not deserve to be in this list. At the end we will rank the bowlers on the basis of your judgment, and the severity of prosecution will be judged accordingly.

Take it away jury.

What Karma brings him here	Vent your Spleeeeen time!
Salil Ankola. . Yes, he was a cricketer too. By mistake. So much so, that we could not find a picture of him playing cricket, in our image quest. He played just 1 test, and a handful of ODI’s. He holds the unofficial record of touring the most number of series without getting a single game. In honour of this feat, a title of ‘Ankolad’ is given to every player who tours a lot without actually playing. Shifted his talents to TV and films, where he managed to be equally obscure. Justified his B-grade-ness by enrolling for ‘Bigg Boss’, with fellow demented house mates. Continued his string of being ‘Ankolad’ there too. But we are judging him for his cricket here.	[polldaddy rating="2572532"]
Thiru Kumaran. . Was deceptive with his pace; the deception being that it wasn’t pace at all. When the batsmen figured that out, in a couple of matches, he was hit all over by South Africa and Pakistan. He ended up with an economy rate of 8.6 in both games. The Pakistan one (in 2000) was his last, thankfully. Re-incarnations do happen. He was the stand-out bowler, and top wicket taker in the league that no one watched unfortunately: ICL. One of the reasons why the fans are happy that ICL performances are not recognized.	[polldaddy rating="2578418"]
Atul Wassan. . Before finding a comfort zone behind the camera, as the omnipresent commentator and analyst, he put a lot of fans out of their comfort zone with his cricket. Played 4 tests, best remembered for being hit for 24 runs in an over by Ian Smith, the Kiwi batsmen, at a time when 5 runs conceded in an over was considered sacrilege. Was given one more chance against England in the 1990 tour where his economy rate of 5.22 was more than twice as his other team-mates. His futuristic economy rates were not appreciated by the selectors, as they 20 years ahead of the times. Continues this trend in commentary, with his not-so-economical choice of words. But, as earlier, we are judging only on cricketing abilities (or lack of it)	[polldaddy rating="2578419"]
Subroto Banerjee. . As kids growing up in Jamshedpur, he was our idol as the only player to make it from that town (before Saurabh Tiwary made it big). You can understand how disturbed our childhood was. Played his only test against Australia in the 1992 tour down under, and surprised everyone with 3 wickets in the first innings. But, he was so tired after that feat, that he could not bowl in the 2nd innings, and never got to bowl again. Was the antithesis of what you would expect a fast bowler to be: short, frail and timid.	[polldaddy rating="2578420"]
Paras Mahambrey. . Debuted in the same match as Ganguly and Dravid against England, and that is where the similarity ends. Had a bowling average of 74 in the two tests he managed to play and and economy of nearly 6 in the 3 ODI’s he appeared in; at a time when an economy of 5 meant compulsory rehab for a bowler. Was an automatic drop choice after the tour.	[polldaddy rating="2578422"]
David Johnson. Played 2 tests, including the one-off match against Australia in Delhi. The only memories we have of this bowler are the repeats of the Azhar special catch at slip, after Slater being frustrated by the wayward deliveries, chased one way wide off. His bowling made slip and keeper exchange places, to avoid risk of injury to the slip fielders who had to gather every delivery. The ones that did fall in place were duly dispatched by the frustrated batsmen.	[polldaddy rating="2578423"]
Dodda Ganesh. . The only thing funnier than his name were his ‘fast’ deliveries. He was a tearaway fast bowler, for fans broke into in tears every time he bowled. Played 4 tests in 1997, a time when Indian fast bowling was facing a mini-crisis with Kurvilla, and Prasad leading the front line seam attack (*shudders*) Took his talents to politics, where we was elected from Devegowda’s party. His political campaigns were funded by Azhar’s hard earned match-fixing money, a sum of 10 crores granted by the former India captain.	[polldaddy rating="2578424"]
Harvinder Singh. . He was tall, well built and when he came into bowl, he struck fear in the heart…..of his own team mates. And the fans. The long run up, the exaggerated bent back did not contribute anything to the pace of the ball, in strange defiance to the laws of physics. Statistics reveal he did no wrong in the 3 tests he played. But they also reveal he did nothing right, to keep his place.	[polldaddy rating="2578427"]
Robin Singh Jr.. . A player so obscure, that even Cricinfo hasn’t managed a profile pic for him. His name in the starting line-up confused us to no end; because we could not figure out if the senior Robin Singh had grown old enough to have his son in the team. We were relieved to find there was no connection. Debuted late in his career, in 1999 at the age of 30 against the Kiwis. Was so wayward with his deliveries that all fielders had to wear helmets. Selectors decided to end his, and our agony after just 1 test match.	[polldaddy rating="2578430"]
Debasis Mohanty. . Was one of the rare eastern exports to the national team. Didn’t quite measure up with the pace, and tried to confound the batsmen with his unusual action instead. Played 2 test matches, after which he concentrated on his much longer ODI career (45 ODI’s) Was branded a swing specialist, though fans are still wondering if that tag referred to his bowling.	[polldaddy rating="2578433"]

Participate and get your friends, family, colleagues to be a part of this trial. This is our time to avenge for the atrocities we have faced. In case you have any additions in mind, let us know. No one should escape!

Note to unexpected visitor: In case you are one of the players featured in this list, and came here trying to search for your own existence..Hey there! So, this rules out chances for an autograph? Or an interview? What, you are ready? We were just being nice.