5 Indian players who did not deserve to be in the national team

Indian cricket produced some sheer talented cricketers that received applauds from across the globe. A country with 1.16 billion people that follows cricket quite religiously had the honour to have players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli in their arsenal. The list holds a total of 231 cricketers, who donned Indian jersey for at least once in their professional cricketing career.

It is an accepted fact that the journey of being an international cricketer isn’t an easy path. Any player works hard on the cricket field for many years in a wish to get a call up from their national side. And, picking cricket as a career is sought as a risky decision in India due to several reasons. It is the ultimate dream to get a break into international cricket in a country 1.16 billion people where competition to get one berth among Playing XI is always at its peak.

In the long Indian cricketing history, many talented cricketers successfully managed to get into the national team and many failed. There were also some players, who never deserved to be a part of Team India but they donned the Indian jersey nonetheless.

Here are the five players who never deserved to be part of the national team:

1. VRV Singh

VRV Singh, the right-handed fast bowler from Punjab made his debut for Team India back in 2006 against England. He played two ODI games in which he went wicketless and gave away runs at an economy of 8.25. He was not as special as other bowlers in the team at that time. Moreover, his stats were quite normal in domestic cricket. Even many other bowlers were there, who were performing tremendously well for their state team but they never got a call up from the national selectors.

He never looked impressive with the ball during his time with Team India. The batsmen used to smack him across the park with no hesitation. At that time when T20 cricket was in its early phase. a bowler giving runs at an economy of 8.25 speaks a lot about his bowling. It is appreciated that it takes lots of effort to reach that level but he was nowhere near an international-level material.

Later on, he made his debut in Test cricket in which he managed to grab only five wickets in eight games. The interesting thing about his wicket tally is that the majority wickets that he took in international cricket were of tailenders. He never looked like a bowler that can represent Team India in international cricket. Soon, he sustained an injury that forced him out of the team and in March 2019 he bid adieu to international cricket.

2. Ramesh Powar

Ramesh Powar, the right-handed spinner from Mumbai was a good turner of the ball. But, the problem with him was his fitness. He was a poor fielder due to which his side always failed to put pressure on the opponents. Cricket needs discipline and he knew that he had to work really hard on his fitness to reduce a few pounds. In the end, his poor fielding turned out to be the prime reason behind his exclusion from the national side.

He made his debut back in 2004 against Pakistan where he didn’t manage to get a single wicket. He donned national jersey in two Tests and 31 ODIs in which he managed to grab as many as 40 wickets across all formats. There is no doubt about the fact that he was a great spinner but, he was next to worse when it comes fielding with his bulky body. Powar was expected to come up with a tough discipline to work on his fitness and fielding but that was never the case.

If a player fails to do so throughout his career then he cannot be referred to be an international material. It was important for him to overcome his weak links in order to be a regular part of the side. Afterwards, he called off his time in 2015 from all forms of cricket.

3. Yograj Singh

Yograj Singh– the father of former star all-rounder Yuvraj Singh is also the part of this list. There are no questions that Yuvraj is arguably by far the best all-rounder that India has ever produced in its cricketing history. It was an honour for Team India to have a player like Yuvraj. However, his father couldn’t achieve the heights which his son did.

Yograj Singh made his debut for national side back in 1980 against New Zealand. He got the honour to play 6 ODIs and a solitary Test in which he mustered 11 runs and grabbed five wickets. His domestic cricket scores were not that impressive on the back of which he was picked for the national side. In first-class cricket, he grabbed 66 wickets with 349 runs in 30 games.

The Punjab-born all-rounder never scored a single fifty throughout his professional career but even then, he got an opportunity to don the blue jersey for which million of cricketers work relentlessly. Taking the stats into consideration, it could be said that there were much better players in the domestic circuit who deserved a chance in his place.

4. Laxmi Ratan Shukla

Laxmi Ratan Shukla, the right-hand all-rounder made big noises with his brilliant performances in the domestic circuit with his bat and ball. He was regarded as one of the most promising cricketers. But, Shukla failed to replicate his form at international level. It looked like he was unable to take the high compressive pressure between the group of elite players.

It is no secret that the pressure playing for Team India is very high. If a player is unable to take it, then he should not be given a place in the national side. Laxmi Ratan Shukla played as many as 3 ODIs in which he gathered only 13 runs with one wicket playing for the Men in Blue. He was picked as a replacement of injured Ashish Nehra in the team as a young fast bowling all-rounder. And he failed to give a single breakthrough performance with the bat and ball.

Later on, the selectors gave chance to a player like Irfan Pathan, who used the opportunity to the fullest. Now, Irfan is recognized as one of the gems of Indian cricket.

5. Shivam Dube

Shivam Dube, the young Indian all-rounder raised several eyebrows with his destructive hitting in the domestic cricket. His name came into the spotlight after he smacked five sixes in an over against Pravin Tambe. Soon, he was picked by an IPL franchise– Royal Challengers Bangalore at a hefty amount of 5 crores INR. But, he failed to prove his worth in his debut season.

Later on, Dube was picked in the national side and he got a big opportunity to wear that Blue jersey in ODIs and T20Is. He has so far played one ODI and 13 T20Is in which he has amassed 176 runs across all the formats with five wickets. Dube is still too young and raw to be referred to as an unworthy player playing Team India. But as far as his recent performances are concerned, he doesn’t deserve a spot in the national team.

Moreover, there are many other players in the Ranji Trophy, who are waiting to get at least one chance to prove their worth. And, they are seriously talented more talented then Shivam Dube based on his current form.