Top 10 cricketers with short-lived careers in the international arena

Cricketers always aim to have long careers at the international level. It is the dream of every budding cricketer to make their country proud with their performances in the global arena.

Initially, cricketers need to perform well in the domestic tournaments. If they earn the selectors' attention, they can earn a place in the national team. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Javed Miandad, Sanath Jayasuriya, Imran Khan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul represented their nations at the international level for more than two decades.

However, not all cricketers are successful in having long careers like the names mentioned above. Some cricketers fade away soon after making their debut. In this article, we will look at the top ten cricketers with short-lived careers in the international arena.

---

1. One of the most successful cricketers in Tamil Nadu's domestic cricket history: Subramaniam Badrinath

Subramaniam Badrinath was a right-handed batsman who usually batted in the middle order. Badrinath played 145 first-class matches in his career, aggregating 10,245 runs at an average of 54.49. Courtesy of his brilliant performances in the domestic arena, Badrinath received a call-up to the Indian team.

However, Badrinath could only play two Tests, seven ODIs and one T20I. He won the Man of the Match award in his only T20I, but his performances in ODIs and Tests were not up to the mark. As a result, he could not have a long career.

---

2. Deep Dasgupta

Deep Dasgupta

Deep Dasgupta made his international debut in October 2001 and played his last international game in April 2002. In the brief period, he represented India in eight Tests and four ODIs.

The wicket-keeper batsman had decent numbers in domestic cricket, but Dasgupta scored only 51 runs in five ODIs. He performed much better in Test cricket. However, his inconsistency led to his exit from the team.

---

3. Naman Ojha

Naman Ojha was one of the most best cricketers in the Madhya Pradesh domestic team

Naman Ojha was a talented wicket-keeper batsman. However, he competed with the likes of MS Dhoni for a spot in the Indian team. Since only one wicket-keeper can feature in a playing XI, Ojha could play only four international matches for India.

Ojha failed to impress in the limited opportunities he got. He scored 56 runs in two Test innings, a solitary run in his only ODI and 12 runs in two T20I games. The wicket-keeper batsman retired earlier this year.

---

4. Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra has become a popular cricket commentator now. But he also played international cricket for India in 2003 and 2004. Chopra managed to play ten Tests for the country.

While he had superb numbers in domestic cricket, Chopra could never make it big in the global arena. He aggregated 437 Test runs, with his highest score being 60.

---

5. Graham Manou

Graham Manou

Graham Manou is another wicket-keeper to appear on this list. Like most cricketers on this list, Manou performed consistently in the domestic arena. However, when he got a chance at the international level, he could not impress much.

Manou's international career lasted only one Test and four ODIs. His first and last appearances in the international arena came in the same year (2009). Manou scored 28 runs in his five international appearances for Australia.

6. One of the few cricketers with more than 700 first-class wickets: Graham Onions

Graham Onions is one of the cricketers whose career got derailed by injury

One of the most successful cricketers in county cricket, Graham Onions played for Durham and Lancashire. The right-arm pacer scalped 723 wickets in his first-class career of 192 games.

However, on the international circuit, he could only play nine Test matches. His performances were decent as Onions bagged 32 wickets in nine Tests and four wickets in four ODIs. Unfortunately, like a few unlucky cricketers, injuries derailed his career. He played county cricket until 2019, but Graham did not play international cricket after 2012.

---

7. Graeme Aldridge

Graeme Aldridge is one of the cricketers who could not make it big in the international arena

Canterbury-born fast bowler Graeme Aldridge broke into the Blackcaps squad for the away series against Zimbabwe. He had a decent domestic record in all formats, and he got to play two ODIs and a T20I against Zimbabwe.

Aldridge managed to take two wickets in three games, but his economy rate was very high. As a result, he lost his place in the team and never came back.

---

8. Abdur Rauf

Abdur Rauf is a former Pakistani fast bowler who played international cricket in 2008 and 2009. He donned the Pakistani jersey in three Tests, four ODIs and a solitary T20I match.

Rauf bagged a total of 14 wickets across three formats. He was one of the few cricketers who could generate awkward bounce. Ultimately, he had a short-lived career in the international arena because of his inconsistency.

---

9. Andrew Puttick

Andrew Puttick is one of the unluckiest cricketers ever

Andrew Puttick played in the 1999 U-19 World Cup with Graeme Smith. Like Smith, he was a left-handed batsman who generally opened the innings. Puttick scored heaps of runs in the domestic arena.

However, he only got one solitary chance to play for South Africa. Puttick got out for a duck in his only ODI inning. Although he scored more than 15,000 runs in the domestic arena, the selectors never included him in the South African playing XI again.

---

10. Ishara Amerasinghe

Jon Holland became the 11th to remain 0* in both inngs of his debut.The last one to do it was Ishara Amerasinghe vs WI, POS, 2008.#SLvAUS

— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) August 6, 2016

Ishara Amerasinghe is a former Sri Lankan fast bowler. He made his international debut soon after the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Amerasinghe had done well for the Sri Lanka 'A' team. However, he had a disappointing outing on Test debut, where he returned with figures of 1/105.

Ishara's performances were better in ODIs as he took nine wickets in eight games, with his best figures being 3/44. But the team management dropped him after he bowled a spell of 0/56 against the West Indies in an ODI match in 2008. That game proved to be his last international appearance for Sri Lanka.