5 unlikely Indian heroes who have now been forgotten

#2 Rajesh Chauhan

Rajesh Chauhan’s moment of glory in Indian colours came as a batsman

Rajesh Chauhan was a promising prospect for India in the 90s as he formed a spinning trio with Venkatapathy Raju and Anil Kumble. His career statistics are modest, with 47 wickets in Tests and 29 ODI wickets in his kitty.

But for a tail-ender who has only managed to score 132 runs from 35 ODIs at an average of 10.15, it is astounding to think perhaps that his moment of glory in the Indian colours came as a batsman. Some even consider it to be the most significant and well-remembered contribution of Chauhan to Indian cricket.

In the 2nd ODI against Pakistan at Karachi in 1997, India were in a spot of bother while chasing a commendable total of 266 from 47 overs. The equation had come down to 8 required off the last over with 2 wickets remaining. With Saqlain Mushtaq bowling and Rajesh Chauhan on strike, the home fans in the stadium were celebrating their imminent victory.

The challenge before Chauhan was to get bat on ball and give the strike to Robin Singh at the other end. Chauhan stepped out, converted Saqlain's attempted yorker into a full-toss and swung hard on the leg-side. The ball sailed over the square-leg boundary for a huge six and Chauhan became an unlikely hero in a famous Indian victory.