5 Indian players whose LOI careers reached a deadlock following a Zimbabwe tour
Tours of Zimbabwe have been looked at as an opportunity to blood youngsters and provide them with an opportunity to impress the selectors and make a case for themselves.
However, there have also been cricketers scattered through the history of the sport in India who ended their careers and played their last international matches against Zimbabwe. We take a look at five such players and their final performances.
#1 Rahul Sanghvi
A slow left-arm bowler for India back in the day, Rahul Sanghvi registered a single Test appearance for India on the international level. Playing in the first Test against Australia at home in 2001, he was dropped following a 10-wicket defeat at the hands of the visitors.
In the space of nine months, Rahul Sanghvi chalked up 10 ODI appearances with the last one on 30 September 1998, coming at Harare. His bowling performance in the match was mediocre, to say the least, with an economy rate of 7.83. Apart from that, he managed to add 8 runs off 9 balls, coming in at number 9 for India.
Most famously, he registered a record of 8 wickets for 15 for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh in the 1997-98 season of List A cricket which he never equalled again.
#2 Manoj Tiwary
Manoj Tiwary is usually remembered for his memorable, big hitting IPL performances while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders, especially in the 2012 edition of the tournament. Tiwary had the makings of a prolific batsman. His international career was largely catapulted by his IPL achievements.
Tiwary went on to score his only international century against the West Indies at Chennai in 2011. Following a series of mediocre and unremarkable performances, the player from Bengal saw his career come to a standstill after the 3rd ODI during India's tour of Zimbabwe in July 2015.
For his last game, he managed an unimpressive 10 runs off 33 balls in an ODI series that India dominated and won 3-0. Since then, Tiwary has largely focused on the IPL and his domestic cricket career.
#3 Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa played both his last ODI and his last T20I against Zimbabwe at Harare in July 2015 during India's tour of the country. Uthappa made an impressive start to his international ODI career when he scored 86 against England in 2006 before getting run out..
For his last match, he scored a total of 31 off 44 balls against a listless Zimbabwe bowling attack. That year he also finished as the highest run-getter for Karnataka in the Ranji season 2014-15.
#4 Naman Ojha
The last time Naman Ojha played limited-overs cricket on an international level was in 2010 when he registered a single ODI cap and two T20I appearances for the country.
Post this tour, he was included in the squad for India's 2015 tour of Sri Lanka where he made his Test debut at the age of 32. His last game in the limited overs format came against Zimbabwe in 2010, a match where he opened for India and recorded a score of 10 off 18 balls.
Ojha has consistently delivered good scores for IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad and has been a reliable opener for the team since.
#5 Murali Vijay
The 2015 tour of Zimbabwe marked a deadlock for the LOI careers of a few prominent names in Indian cricket and Murali Vijay is one of them. He would continue to be a regular player in the Test side till 2018, but remains on the fringe of the limited-overs side. He might have got a call-up to the 2016 Indian squad in Zimbabwe, but was rested.
His exploits as a batsman with the IPL side Chennai Super Kings revived his international career. His form and his ability as a big hitter continued to gain momentum ever since.
Vijay has 12 Test centuries to his credit. His last game in the limited overs format came in 2015 in the second and final T20 match of that tour. For his last game he added 13 off 11 balls to India's score, not the greatest of efforts.