India discards and their performances in Ranji Trophy

India discards and their performances in Ranji Trophy: To play for team India is every budding Indian cricketers ultimate dream. But, finding a place in the Indian team is not an easy task. Even if you manage to break into the team, it is very hard to maintain a spot. Constant pressure to perform and a highly competitive environment is very tough to survive and very few manage to seal a permanent place in the Indian team. It’s a known fact that even the best players have been dropped once or twice in their career. Domestic cricket is the best place to make a statement again. India’s premier domestic tournament, Ranji Trophy has the best platform for the struggling players to perform and earn a place back into the national team. So, here we have a look at the list of players who are currently out of the team but toiling hard to make a comeback into the team. 1. Yuvraj Singh (Punjab): (Photo Source: Yuvraj Singh Facebook Handle) Yuvraj Singh last played for India in the year 2013. But he has not let himself down and has been fighting hard to regain his place in the Indian squad. Yuvraj turned up for his domestic side Punjab and performed decently this year. He played seven matches for Punjab in which he scored 398 runs in the 11 innings at an average of 36.18. His knock of 187 against Gujarat is his best this year so far. His performances clearly state that he still has the fight in him. 2. Irfan Pathan (Baroda): Irfan Pathan Irfan Pathan showed his class when he appeared to play his first match for Baroda in Ranji Trophy. Returning from an injury, Pathan displayed fine all-round skill and contributed with both bat and ball. He took amazing figures of 6/47 in the first innings and then came into bat and scored a fluent half-century. He has only played 3 matches this season and has taken 14 wickets. As a batsman, Pathan has 139 runs at an average of 34.75. 3. Dinesh Karthik (Tamil Nadu): Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: AFP) Dinesh Karthik is currently out of favor as the first choice wicketkeeper in the Indian squad. However, his performance for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy has been decent though the team had a dismal show. Karthik is the second highest run scorer for them this season. Karthik has 355 runs in 8 matches at an average of 32.27 which includes one century. 4. Gautam Gambhir (Delhi): Gautam Gambhir. (© Getty Images) Gautam Gambhir may not be in the national reckoning at the moment. But, his bat is still doing the talking at the domestic level. He is currently the second highest run-getter for Delhi this season. Gambhir has 488 runs in 8 matches at an average of 37.53. He has scored 4 half-centuries this season but has not converted anyone of them into three figures. 5. Naman Ojha (Madhya Pradesh): Naman Ojha. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Naman Ojha is currently the best wicketkeeper batsman in India after India’s current first choice Test keeper Wriddhiman Saha. Ojha is having a decent season so far. He has scored 337 runs at an average of 33.70 in seven matches for his domestic side Madhya Pradesh. He is yet to score a century for them but has three fifties. Ojha has played only 1 Test and ODI each for India in his career and would be now looking to make the most of the opportunity created because of MS Dhoni’s Test retirement. 6. Ashoke Dinda (Bengal): Ashok Dinda. (Photo Source: PTI) Ashoke Dinda last played for India in 2013 against England. He lost his place mainly due to his inability to take wickets and reckless bowling. However, he is a force in domestic cricket. Dinda has 31 wickets to his tally in 8 matches with best bowling figures of 7/31. He is the second highest wicket-taker for Bengal and is just 2 wickets behind his teammate Pragyan Ojha who tops the bowling charts for Bengal this year. 7. Pragyan Ojha (Bengal): Pragyan Ojha. (© PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP/Getty Images) Pragyan Ojha is the leading wicket-taker this season for Bengal. Ojha has 33 dismissals to his name in 8 matches with a best bowling figures of 11/118. After being dropped from the Indian Test side in 2013 and then from the ODI side in 2012, Ojha has struggled to make a comeback to the Indian side. However, his performances still indicate that he has a lot to offer to Indian cricket if given another opportunity. 8. Robin Uthappa (Karnataka): Robin Uthappa. (Photo Source: PTI) Robin Uthappa is the sixth highest run getter currently in this Ranji season. He has 759 runs at an average of 58.38. Uthappa has hit 3 centuries and the equal number of half-centuries. The 30-year old batsman last played in Indian colors when he toured to Zimbabwe for the ODI series. Going by his Ranji performance in the last two seasons, maybe the time has come for selectors to keep his name in their mind for a spot in the national team. 9. Vinay Kumar (Karnataka): Vinay Kumar. (Photo Source: PTI ) Vinay Kumar played for India briefly but has been Karnataka’s pace spearhead in domestic cricket. He is currently the second highest wicket taker for Karnataka with 24 wickets to his name in the 8 matches he played this season, but his average of 30.20 is slightly average. His best bowling figures this season is 6/115. 10. Manoj Tiwary (Bengal): Manoj Tiwary. (Photo: AFP) Manoj Tiwary played for India this year against Zimbabwe this year in July. However, he failed to seal a permanent place in the highly competitive Indian batting line up. But, he is doing his job perfectly for his domestic team Bengal in Ranji Trophy. Tiwary has scored 522 runs for Bengal at an average of 43.50 in 8 matches. He has scored one century and 4 half-century in 13 innings.