Playing in the longest format of the game for the national team is the greatest achievement in any cricketer’s career. However, sometimes players performing brilliantly in the domestic level have been overlooked for selection in the Indian team. Due to variety of reasons, they have never earned that final elusive call-up. It is one of the most heart-breaking things for any cricketer.
In the wake of snub of domestic players like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan in the Indian team for the West Indies tour despite their brilliant domestic performances, let’s have a look at some of the cricketers who made a name for themselves in the domestic tournaments piling up runs or wickets, but unfortunately never got selected into the Indian team.
Amol Muzumdar
In a career spanning nearly 20 years, Amol Muzumdar scored over 11,000 first-class runs at an impressive average of 48 including 30 centuries in domestic cricket. However, he was never selected in the Indian team because of the quality baters present ahead of him during his time. He tops the runs among all the Indian batters who have never played for India.
Rajinder Goel
Haryana’s Rajinder Goel took a total of 750 First-Class wickets at an average of 18.58 and an economy of 2.10. He is perhaps the pick of Indian bowlers to never get a cap. He was in the best time of his career during the era of Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, S Venkataraghavan, and Bhagwat Chandrashekar. However, Goel could never establish himself in presence of the famous quartet.
Padmakar Shivalkar
Mumbai’s Padmakar Shivalkar was another left-arm orthodox bowler who averaged below 20 in his era. He was extremely skillful and accurate in his trade. Shivalkar was also in Goel’s bracket, He could never make it to the Indian team in presence of the famous quartet.
KP Bhaskar
Krishnan Bhaskar Pillai played 95 matches for Delhi in First Class cricket. He ended his career with over 5400 runs including 18 centuries with an impressive average of 52. But unfortunately, the elegant batsman was never selected in the national team.
Ranadeb Bose
Bengal pacer Ranadeb Bose captured 57 wickets in the 2006-07 season. It was good enough a performance for a pacer at that time. He picked up a total of 317 Ranji wickets at an average of 25.80. However, he never got a call-up from the Indian team for Test cricket. Bose is perhaps the finest pacer never to get a cap for India.