Five young Indian cricketers who failed to cement their place in the Indian Team
The Indian team has always been blessed with extraordinarily talented cricketers. Over the years, some of the greatest names in the game have entertained fans with extraordinary feats on the field. However, there are some players who got a chance but failed to cement their place in the team.
India has a robust domestic cricket structure that continually produces many young talented cricketers who get into the national team after performing on the domestic circuit for years. Introduced to the big stage, the pressure of performing and stiff competition often results in a string of unimpressive performances.
This article will look at five young Indian cricketers whose stint in the Indian team was shortened by injury, loss of form and/or poor performances.
#1 Prithvi Shaw
The young Mumbai batter burst onto the scene with his exploits in U19 World Cup. He followed it up with a couple of explosive batting performances in the IPL. The young right-handed prodigy debuted in Test cricket against West Indies in Rajkot, in October 2018, scoring a sublime 134 from 154 balls in the first innings.
As the away tour of the Indian Team started, Shaw hit a rough patch and his susceptibility against in-swinging deliveries was exposed on the tour of Australia. Shaw managed to score only 102 runs in six innings on the away tours. Moreover, a series of injuries did not help his case, ultimately resulting in his omission from the team.
India's former fielding coach R Sridhar said, "Prithvi Shaw makes bowlers look absolutely silly. He's got great hands. The reason why he's fallen down in the pecking order is his fitness". (To Cricket Com).
Shaw has scored 339 runs in nine innings with an average of 42.38 in Tests. His ODI record is not as stellar as his record in Tests. The young cricketer has scored 189 runs in six ODI innings with an average of 31.5.
#2 Venkatesh Iyer
The Madhya Pradesh-born young cricketer needed only half a season in the IPL to showcase his talent in front of the world. In his first season in the IPL, he scored 370 runs in 10 matches for KKR. He was drafted into the Indian team to fill in the gap left by Hardik Pandya, who was nursing an injury.
Venkatesh Iyer debuted against South Africa at Boland Park in January 2022. Though he failed to impress in the ODIs, he perfectly executed the role of finisher in the T20s. He has scored 133 runs from nine matches with a healthy strike rate of 162.2 but suffered a rough patch in the second half of the season and struggled with both bat and ball.
Iyer’s loss of form coincided with Hardik Pandya’s stellar return to form. The tall left-handed batter could accumulate only 182 runs from 12 matches in the IPL. Meanwhile, the younger of the Pandya brothers scored 487 runs in 15 matches. Hardik's ability to bowl in the powerplay also made him an easy pick over Iyer.
#3 Shivam Dube
A talented Mumbai all-rounder who performed very well on the domestic circuit but failed to replicate the same performance in international matches. Shivam Dube made his debut in T20 against Bangladesh in November 2019 but it was far from an ideal debut as he got out cheaply after scoring 1.
His bowling performance in that match was not memorable either as he bowled only three deliveries and gave away nine runs. The young Indian cricketer has played 13 matches so far and has scored 105 runs with an average of 17.5. He has taken five wickets, with an expensive economy rate of 10.05.
His string of failures with the bat and lackluster bowling had already put his position in the Indian team in a precarious situation. The last straw for the team management appeared to be when he gave away 34 runs in an over against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui in February 2020.
Most runs conceded in an over in T20Is:
36 by Stuart Broad, 2007
36 by Akila Dananjaya, 2021
34 by Shivam Dube, 2020
33 by Andile Phehlukwayo, 2022*
#ENGvSA
#4 Navdeep Saini
The Haryana-born cricketer has represented India in all three formats. Navdeep Saini made his international debut in a T20I series against West Indies in August 2019. It was a dream debut; he took three wickets for 17 that won him the Player of the Match award.
Though he took only four wickets in four innings in two Tests and six wickets in eight ODIs for the Indian team, he did exceedingly well in T20s by claiming 13 wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of 7.16. Saini's smooth progress, however, was halted by a shoulder injury he suffered in the series against Sri Lanka in 2021.
Saini was dropped from the Indian team and is yet to play a match again for the national team. With an eye on making a comeback to the Indian side, the right-arm fast bowler has joined the Kent county team. He showed his old lethal form by grabbing 11 wickets from two matches against Warwickshire and Lancashire.
An impressive performance from Navdeep Saini in the #CountyChampionship 👏
#5 Khaleel Ahmed
Khaleel Ahmed’s journey from a humble background to representing India on the international stage is nothing short of a fairytale. The Rajasthan-born young cricketer impressed everyone with his performance in the twelfth edition of the IPL by taking 19 wickets from nine matches. It earned him his maiden call-up for the senior team.
Khaleel Ahmed made his ODI debut against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup in September 2018 and took three wickets, but his graph dropped considerably in next matches. In fact, he could only take four wickets in his last five one-day matches.
Ahmed's T20I record was not convincing either. Moreover, his economy rates of 5.81 in ODIs and 8.83 in T20s are on the higher side, costing him his place in the side. Though he is returning to his wicket-taking form and has taken 16 wickets in 10 matches in this year's Indian Premier League, he must improve his economy rate to get another chance in the Indian team.