5 active Indian players who have played only 1 Test match
It is the dream of every Indian cricketer to represent the country in the longest format of the game. Playing Test cricket for India is a matter of great prestige for every Indian cricketer.
However, some players who fulfilled their dream of getting an India Test cap have been unfortunate to have not added to that tally.
In this article, we take a look at five active Indian cricketers who have played only one Test match. All these cricketers are still active in the Ranji Trophy, but not all of them are likely to add to their solitary Test cap.
Five active Indian players to have played only one Test match:
#5: Vinay Kumar
Vinay Kumar played his only Test match for India as part of a four-pronged pace attack alongside Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav in the third Test of India's 2011 tour of Australia where the hosts completed a 4-0 series whitewash. This particular game was played at the WACA in Perth.
It was a horror Test debut for Vinay Kumar as he ended up with figures of 1/73 from the 13 overs he bowled in the only innings that Australia batted, as India went on to lose the match by an innings and 37 runs. His listless performance in the Test match meant that he was never again considered for the Indian whites.
However, Vinay Kumar went on to play as many as 31 ODIs for India. He has also enjoyed tremendous success in the Ranji Trophy as he captained Karnataka to consecutive titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15. In 2019, Vinay Kumar became the second-fastest bowler to pick up 400 wickets in the history of the Ranji Trophy.
#4: Naman Ojha
Naman Ojha is another name in the long list of Indian wicketkeepers who would consider themselves unlucky to have played in the same era as MS Dhoni.
Despite his consistent performances in the Ranji Trophy and his IPL heroics for Rajasthan Royals in the first few editions of the competition, Ojha never got the chance to represent India in Test cricket until 2015. It happened only in the aftermath of Dhoni's retirement from the longest format of the game.
Naman Ojha played his only game in the third and final Test of the India - Sri Lanka Test series in 2015. The game was played at the P Sara Oval in Colombo.
Considering that the first-choice wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha had scored a 50 in each of the previous two Tests of the series, Naman Ojha had to do something really special to cement his place in the Test side.
Ojha instead had a rather middling Test match, scoring 21 and 35 in the first and second innings respectively. Since then, he has never represented India in any format of the game.
Currently, Naman Ojha serves as the captain of the Madhya Pradesh Ranji Trophy team.
#3: Karn Sharma
Karn Sharma made his Test debut in the famous Adelaide Test in December 2014 under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. That match happened to be Virat Kohli's first as Test captain. Kohli's selection of Karn Sharma ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin as the lone spinner in the team raised a lot of eyebrows.
But Sharma had a forgettable outing in the Test as he returned figures of 2/143 and 2/95 to narrowly miss out on creating a dubious record of being only the eighth bowler to concede 100 runs in each innings of a Test match on debut. He was replaced by Ravichandran Ashwin in the second Test of the series, and since then, Sharma has not represented India in any format of the game.
The tremendous success of spin twins Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, along with Kuldeep Yadav's good performances in the few Tests that he has played, has made it very difficult for Karn Sharma to make another appearance for India in the longest format of the game.
#2: Shahbaz Nadeem
Having made his first-class debut for Jharkhand in 2004, it took the Bokaro-born Shahbaz Nadeem only 110 matches to bag a whopping 424 wickets in domestic cricket. However, it took him as many as 15 years since his debut to realise his dream of playing Test cricket for India.
In the third Test of the India - South Africa Test series in 2019, Shahbaz Nadeem became the 296th cricketer to earn India's Test cap. Playing as the third spinner alongside Ashwin and Jadeja, Shahbaz Nadeem had a decent outing, returning figures of 2/22 and 2/18 in the Test.
However, it is to be noted that Shahbaz Nadeem was not the first choice for the third spinner in that particular Test match. It was only in the absence of the injured Kuldeep Yadav that he was called on to make his debut.
With one of R Ashwin and R Jadeja missing out on the lone spinner's spot in away Tests, and Kuldeep Yadav having cemented his spot as the third spinner in home Tests, Shahbaz Nadeem may find it difficult to make regular appearances for India in the Test format.
#1: Jaydev Unadkat
Jaydev Unadkat recently made headlines for leading Saurashtra to their first-ever Ranji Trophy title in 2019-20. Leading from the front, he took 65 wickets in that edition of the competition, which is a record for the most wickets picked up by a fast bowler in a single season of the Ranji Trophy.
At 28 years of age, Unadkat has age on his side. Among the five cricketers mentioned in this article, he has the highest probability along with Shahbaz Nadeem to get another Test callup for India.
Unadkat made his Test debut at the age of 19 when India played South Africa in the SuperSport Park in Centurion. He played the Test match as a replacement for an injured Zaheer Khan.
It was a horror debut for Jaydev Unadkat as he returned figures of 0/101 in his 26 overs in the only innings that India bowled. The visitors went on to lose the match by an innings and 25 runs. Zaheer Khan came back to play the second Test, which India won by 87 runs.
Since then, Unadkat hasn't received an opportunity to don the India whites. However, he has enjoyed decent success in the IPL. He was a vital cog of the Rising Pune Supergiant team in the two years of the team's existence. Since 2018, Jaydev Unadkat has been a regular feature in the Rajasthan Royals' setup.