5 early-career comparisons of cricketers that failed to live up to expectations

Legends are a rarity in Cricket. As is the case with most other sports, Cricket too suffers from the void created when a true gem of the game bids farewell. And when a bright spark emerges on the horizon in the form of an energetic youngster, the scouts rejoice in unison.Every time a young left-arm pacer runs in and swings the ball, comparisons with Wasim Akram are evoked. And when an all-rounder earns an international cap, we yearn that he might indeed be the reincarnation of the flamboyant Imran Khan or the graceful Sir Richard Hadlee.Comparisons are inevitable and will continue to be made as long as we cherish the memories of our heroes from the yesteryears. That said, more often than not, these assessments are more a reflection of our wishful-thinking than anything else. And soon enough, when the promising players fizzle out, we are left high and dry, lamenting the loss of another talent.Here are 5 talented cricketers who showed promise, earned a comparison with a former great and then dwindled away into obscurity.

#5 Derek Pringle Ian Botham

Derek Pringle was picked early to complement Botham and carry the mantle. But that never worked out

Spurred by the success of Botham, the English selectors offered several promising youngsters a test cap in the 80s. Derek Pringle, at 6ft 4in, was an imposing 23-year-old swing bowler who could strike it big lower down the order. A surprise selection at the time given that Botham was at his peak, Pringle attracted immediate criticism.

It wasn’t until his second stint with the English side that he picked his first five-for against the West Indies at Birmingham in 1984. But this effort was to be one of only three through a career that spanned 30 Tests. Add to that a test batting average of 15.10 with a solitary fifty, his batting credentials looked more like that of a tail-ender and nowhere close to that of a Botham-like all-rounder.

Pringle’s performances in ODIs didn’t live up to expectations either. Although his ODI batting average of 23.61 was remarkably similar to that of Botham’s (23.21), he didn’t register a single fifty and seldom made an impact with the bat. And with 44 wickets from 44 ODIs at a strike-rate of 54, he wasn’t exactly bowling out oppositions.

Despite being in and out of the team in an international career that spanned a decade, Pringle was widely regarded by critics and fans alike as an under-achiever. And his record certainly didn’t help the cause.

Like the several others that were inducted in the Botham-mold and eventually failed, Pringle was fully aware of the comparison. That said, the tall right-hander detested the thought. “I'm a realist and to me the whole idea was preposterous. I knew he was an amazing player and that I would never be able to emulate him”, recalled Pringle.

#4 Mohammad Amir Wasim Akram

Labeled as the next Wasim Akram, Amir went from being a teenage star to a disgraced kid

At 18, a young left-hander from Pakistan could get the ball to do things that seasoned professionals couldn’t. He could swing it both ways when opening the bowling and then reverse-swing the older ball to bamboozle batsman.

When not swinging the ball, he would unsettle an unsuspecting batsman with a bouncer hurled at upwards of 140km/h. The teenager was earmarked to propel the national team and his start was more than promising.

Mohammad Amir idolized Wasim Akram, was handpicked by Wasim Akram himself and by the former great’s own admission, was “cleverer” than he was at 18.

Those words would come back to haunt Akram as he and the world watched Amir’s career come crashing down in the spot-fixing scandal. Just as Amir picked up the man-of-the-series medal for his 19 wicket haul in the four-match series in England in 2010, Scotland Yard was busy investigating his role in the scandal.

The series was to be his last before he served a six-month prison term and a five-year ban from the game.

If a teary eyed and an emotional Michael Holding lamented the loss on TV, Michael Atherton wrote in favour of a lenient sentencing owing to Amir’s age. Not all, however, shared the same sentiments. Ian Healy, Michael Vaughan, and Andrew Flintoff were some of the prominent former cricketers that called for a life-ban.

Amir was the darling of the dressing room and ended up in prison labeled a bad-boy. For someone that was called “a sparkling young talent” by Mark Nicholas in the backdrop of his 5 for 79 against Australia at the MCG, Amir’s fall was just as dramatic as his meteoric rise.

Having served his ban and still only 23, Amir has now been handed a second chance. Pardoned by his team members and picked in the Pakistan touring party to New Zealand, the southpaw stands at the cusp of redeeming himself.

As the world watches in anticipation, it remains to be seen, however, if he still retains the powers that once propelled him to international stardom as a teenager.

#3 Irfan Pathan Kapil Dev

Irfan Pathan was the favourite to step into Kapil Dev’s shoes but faded owing to inconsistencies and drop in form.

For 16 years, Kapil Dev enthralled a Cricket mad nation. With both bat and ball, he held the reins and controlled India’s fortunes. And when he called it a day, the country – although in grief - didn’t seem all that worried.

Cricket was a popular sport and with millions of boys playing it from the hills of Kashmir to the plateaus in the Deccan, finding an all-rounder with abilities similar to that of the former skipper couldn’t possibly have been difficult.

21 years have now passed since the “Haryana Hurricane” retired from international Cricket and India continues its search for a fast-bowling all-rounder in the Kapil Dev mold.

When a 19-year-old Irfan Pathan threw his hat in, the country rejoiced. Like a breath of fresh air, he ran in – long locks and all – and bowled swinging deliveries at a lively pace on India’s tour to Australia in 2003/04.

While the Test series wasn’t a roaring success, the ensuing VB Series surely was. After his 3/64 and 3/51 against Australia and a man-of-the-man effort of 4/24 against Zimbabwe, everybody stood up to take notice. The kid could surely bowl.

When Greg Chappell saw an all-rounder in Pathan, the grooming began. And when the southpaw, coming in at number 3, scored an 83 against Sri Lanka at Nagpur – the comparisons with Kapil Dev began.

With the Test hat-trick against Pakistan in 2006, Pathan seemed to be living up to the lofty comparison. But the slump began on the West Indies tour in 2006. Chappell pinned it at fatigue even as Javagal Srinath spotted the visible drop in pace.

Despite averaging 35 with a bat and scoring 560 runs in the Chappell-era, poor bowling form led to Pathan’s exclusion from India’s touring party in South Africa – an infamous first for an Indian cricketer.

100 test wickets, 173 ODI wickets, a batting average of 31.57 and 23.39 in test and ODI’s respectively would satiate any cricketer. The same, however, cannot be said of Irfan Pathan. After all, he was to follow in the footsteps of the man who could belt a 175 and bowl a vicious wicket taking out-swinger.

Now at 31 years of age and not having played for India since October 2012, Pathan finds himself trying to make another comeback.

“If I perform, I am sure the people (selectors) who are there will notice. My performance will speak for me,” he says. An unfortunate outcome to a career that was once earmarked for greatness.

#2 Basit Ali Javed Miandad

Basit Ali’s demeanor at the crease was remarkably similar to that of Javed Miandad

“Truly one of the great one-day innings” – exclaimed Henry Blofeld on air when Basit Ali got to a hundred on a warm November afternoon at Sharjah in 1993. His 67 ball hundred against the West Indies that day was the second fastest at the time in ODIs.

Handed a debut against the still-mighty West Indians earlier that year on Pakistan’s tour to the West Indies, the Karachi lad strutted around the crease as if he had been around for years. Showing no signs of nerves, he toyed with the West Indian pace bowling and was Pakistan’s most impressive batsman in a series that ended in a dramatic tie.

Basit Ali emerged as a precocious 22-year-old batting talent for Pakistan. Wearing a shining white helmet and occasionally sporting a cap, he walked with a swagger that was reminiscent of Javed Miandad.

He stared the opposition in the eye and with a poker-face, struck the ball to all corners of the ground. If brute power was his forte, he could employ the deft-touch just as effectively.

An immensely gifted middle-order batsman, Basit Ali could play the explosive inside-out cover drive just as well and a supremely-timed late-cut. Long before the big premeditated cross-batted hit over mid-wicket became a popular shot in Twenty20 Cricket, Basit Ali executed it with aplomb against the likes of Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose.

He was also a master of walking across the wicket and playing the leg-glance to beat short fine leg. Regardless of the stroke that he played, Basit Ali looked in total control when at the crease with a bat in hand.

Despite a whirlwind debut in the West Indies and his exploits in Sharjah, his form dipped in the 1995-96 season as he managed just one fifty. Dropped from the Pakistan World Cup team, crisis set in and it was all downhill thereafter.

With Rashid Latif, Basit made public of having been approached by a bookie to underperform in the Austral-Asia Cup final. He also spoke of Salim Malik having favoured a bookie to throw a test match in South Africa. And as the Qayyum Commission ran its investigations, Basit Ali had chosen to quietly retire from international Cricket.

Basit Ali continued to play domestic Cricket till the 1997-98 season. That said, his self-imposed seclusion from international Cricket under mysterious circumstances deprived Pakistan and the cricket world of not just a natural wonder but also the titillating prospect of witnessing the blossoming of the next Javed Miandad.

#1 Sanjay Manjrekar Sunil Gavaskar

Labelled the next Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar’s sound technique withered away in time.

Indian Cricket fans from the late 80s and the early 90s would recall Sanjay Manjrekar as one of the most stylish players of the forward defensive stroke. He could bat for hours together and yet, for every delivery, the head was still and right over the ball as it met the full face of his upright bat.

With an immaculate technique, Manjrekar would grind his way through an innings while wearing down the bowling attack.

Picked to play against the touring West Indies at Delhi in 1987, his test career started rather unceremoniously. Struck over the eye by a Winston Benjamin bouncer in the second innings, he was forced to retire hurt and in doing so, joined a band of four batsmen at the time to retire hurt on debut.

Manjrekar however, came back well. A hundred in his third test innings and a couple of forty’s on the West Indies tour meant that he retained his spot in the side for the tour of Pakistan in 1989.

It was in Pakistan that Manjrekar blossomed. The attack was formidable and featured Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Abdul Qadir. Yet, the Mumbaikar emerged unscathed and walked away with 569 runs from 7 innings. So impressed was Sunil Gavaskar that – with a young Sachin - he labelled Manjrekar as the biggest batting hope for India and called them the “terrific two”.

Success in Pakistan and a mammoth 218 at Lahore ensured that Manjrekar was spoken of as the next Gavaskar. Tours to New Zealand, England and Australia ensued in 1990/91 but success, akin to his stints in Pakistan, eluded him. In 48 innings after the double hundred, a solitary hundred against Zimbabwe was all that Manjrekar could manage.

He would subsequently lose his place to a young Vinod Kambli when England toured India in 1993. And after a failed comeback attempt as an opener, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and then VVS Laxman did well enough to close the door on Manjrekar for good.

If 2,043 test runs with 4 hundreds and 9 fifty’s at 37.14 might seem reasonable to the naked eye, the pundits think otherwise given the man in question was Manjrekar. For someone that strived for perfection in technique and was picked to carry the batting torch for the country the way Sunil Gavaskar did, the returns suggested unfulfilled potential and a career that was arguably unrealised.