None burning out, all fading away.

There are a few things I feel very strongly about. My club back in college, music and cricket would top that list. I figure each of my posts has always had something to do with music, so I guess writing about another of my interests is not a bad idea after all.

I’ve always been very taken with both forms of the game of cricket since ‘93, which was not uncommon in the places where I grew up. And of course, you can never keep me off any other form, be it T20 or Hong Kong Sixes – I am always in front of the TV even if Bermuda plays The United States! The earliest cricket match I remember watching on TV was the Hero Cup final between India and the West Indies at the Eden Gardens in ‘93 with Kumble coming up with a kind of magical one-day spell he hasn’t been able to better yet – 6/12.

This post is also a dedication to all those forgotten Indian players who did play the Gentleman’s game at one point of time or the other (as far as I remember seeing them play live). They either have themselves to blame for not being able to stay at the top tier, or as is the usual case, cricket politics has intervened and shattered what may have possibly become dream careers. But as I see it, politics is part of everything these days, so you gotta be prepared even if things don’t go your way. And you find that most people who’ve made a comeback have persevered – Hayden and Dravid are examples you can’t miss.

The list of forgotten cricketers begins with a certain Prashant Vaidya who I remember played a few ODIs against Pakistan in Sharjah. A lone memory of his stands out – Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail carting him through extra cover for three fours in an over. Another bowler, Salil Ankola figured he was better off acting than bowling (His role in the soap Kora Kagaz opposite Renuka Shahane elicited tears from many household women). In the same series, a middle order left-hand batsman called Atul Bedade who was picked following an excellent run with Baroda, made an impact but as usual, a string poor scores left him in the lurch. A gentleman named Raman Lamba who played a few years before Bedade unfortunately met with a fatal injury on the field – he paid with his life for choosing to stand at forward-short-leg without a protective helmet. He succumbed to a powerful blow on the forehead which killed him a few hours later. A promising Hyderabad off-spinner, Kanwaljit Singh was sidelined from the Indian team quoting agedness. Another quality off-spinner declined. Ajay Sharma, the Delhi player became more synonymous with match-fixing than cricket.

I am sure a lot of us remember Vinod Kambli and his massive double hundreds (224 and 227) versus England and Zimbabwe. A few fanatics would do well to recall his mammoth 664 run partnership with Sachin for Shardashram V St.Xaviers’ back in ’88. But I guess the most distinct memory we all shall probably never forget is a sobbing Kambli heading for the Eden Gardens pavilion with an angry and chaotic crowd booing him off, and the game being awarded to the Lankans. This was probably the poorest way to lose a World cup semi-final. Another promising left-hander never to be heard of after his first few ODIs was Amaya Khurasiya. He was touted to be a dashing leftie, and I remember him making a 46-ball 57 against an opposition my memory eludes me to recall.

Under Sachin’s captaincy, there were a few more such players. During India’s tour of the West Indies in ’96-97, when one of our players was declared unfit (or ruled out, don’t remember what; don’t remember who either) the Indian management sent a replacement in the form of Noel David. Apparently Sachin immediately texted a reply asking, “Who is Noel David?” I remember an ODI in that series where David captured 3/21, dismissing the Windies for 116. We won that game by 10 wickets. Let’s repeat that question now. Who is Noel David? The BCCI probably doesn’t know him now, and for all we know, couldn’t care less. Paras Mhambrey, who also made that trip to West Indies, is still around in the coaching circuit. India toured South Africa round-about the same time with a couple of new quicks from Karnataka – David Johnson and Doddanarasiah “Dodda” Ganesh. Injury forced Johnson out, and Ganesh played a few first class matches before drifting away into nothingness. I am not sure if he’s playing for Karnataka still. Vijay Bharadwaj who was branded an all-rounder had his fleeting moments of glory in South Africa before fading away, too. I recently heard he was part of a software company that focused on cricketing technology.

We’ve had a lot of test and ODI openers in the past – Vikram Rathore, Debang Gandhe, Gagan Khoda, Connor Williams, Sadagopan Ramesh, Sujith Somasundar and SS Das, all in a span of 5-6 years. With Ramesh doing a television programme on Star Vijay and SS Das playing the odd game for Orissa now and then (or does he?) the others are all forgotten heroes who made a huge impact in the local circuit. A successful middle-order batsman from Bombay, Jatin Paranjpe missed out on the opportunities given to him, as did Abhijit Kale, his teammate. Avishkar Salvi, again from Bombay, who had modeled his action after Glenn McGrath was never to be heard of after a Bangladesh series sometime in ''99-'00. What happened to Rohan Gavaskar, Jacob Martin and Mannava Sri Kanth Prasad who toured Australia in ’99? Forgotten. We’ve also had a problem with wicket-keepers – we’ve had MSK Prasad, Saba Karim (he’s still around on Aaj Tak), Vijay Dahiya, Sameer Dighe, Parthiv Patel (who seems to be having a decent run of late), Ajay Ratra and Deep Dasgupta (both of whom actually have a test century under their belts). Why didn’t anyone last? Deep Dasgupta grassed more catches in the England series in ’01-‘02 than the total number of tests he’s played. Vijay Dahiya and Ajay Ratra weren't efficient enough at No.7, Parthiv Patel was still a kid, Saba Karim and Sameer Dighe were at the other extreme, and no one knows what happened to old MSK. The quicks didn't go amiss either - Abey Kuruvilla, the lanky paceman made a feeble impact in the Caribbean, and we've also had Debashish Mohanty and Harvinder Singh opening the bowling once or twice in the Sahara Cup against Pakistan (late '90s). Running a few years back, offie Rajesh Chauhan once pulled off a magnificent six off Saqlain Mushtaq to win us an ODI, and does anyone recollect a cricketer walking along the shore singing a couplet in the famous "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" video aired on DD so often? The man was Narendra Hirwani, whose 16/136 won us a test long long back. And more recently Nikhil Chopra who currently is part of the expert panel for some sports segment on TV had an ordinary record as off-spinner.

When India claimed the world record for the highest ever run chase (to be broken later, eventually) of 316/7, few Indian supporters would have believed that Hrushikesh Kanitkar who hit the winning runs would join the long list of forgotten heroes. Tinu Yohannan of Kerala who debuted against England had a memorable first session – in fact he scalped Trescothick in his very first international over. That reminds me of another left arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni who made his very first ball in international cricket count for a wicket. He's gone too. His Bombay-team mate and leggie Sairaj Bahutule made a similar exit. And the last offie who played test cricket for India – Sarandeep Singh who had Michael Vaughan out handling the ball, has gone behind the veil as well. Thirunavukkarasu Kumaran, Sridharan Sriram and Hemang Badani of Tamil Nadu never made the impact that was expected of them in international cricket, but currently they seem to be happy enough with the ICL package they’ve been offered. Ashish Kapoor of the same team was part of the ’96 world cup squad, but exited sometime later. Sanjay Bangar reminds me of that gritty 236-ball 68 he made at Leeds to set up the first session (and hence, the match) on a swinging pitch against the Englishmen. He also was part of a historic ODI chase of 324 versus the West Indies, partnering the centurion Dravid to win us the game. Punjab's Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Bengal's Laxmi Ratan Shukla were dubbed "promising all-rounders". Ha, another googly!

A lot of unsung heroes in the local circuit never made it to the national side despite a lot of commendable performances – Hanumara Ramkishen who bent his back for Andhra Pradesh, S. Gokulakrishnan who etched a similar script from Tamil Nadu, Amol Muzumdar of Bombay, Utpal Chatterjee of Bengal, Barrington Rowland of Karnataka, Ananthapadmanabhan and Sunil Oasis of Kerala, Shafiq Khan of Bihar (who was written about as another Afridi in the making) and lots more. Politics or lack of sufficient effort, we will never know.

I may probably have missed out a few cricketers. Never mind, they all met with the same fate. Ever since Ganguly became captain, he made sure he backed talent where saw talent. He backed Harbhajan, Yuvraj and Kaif like no captain had ever backed his players. That was real positive intent displayed by him. Kaif is still around and I am betting he’ll be back soon. He’s a very capable batsman (Lords’, 2002. Need I say more?) and too good a fielder and to be left out of the side for too long. His time will come. In case he’s still left out, well, I am sure you’ll know why.

Credits: Dad and Navin, who helped me recollect a couple of them here and there. A special mention about Iyer, who came up with a lot of names!

2nd Feb, Saturday.

A very late update: I bow down to my good friend and fellow enthusiast Anand "Ninja" Iyer (That's his latest middle name after....well, it is too extensive a list, so forget it ;) ) for messaging me one more name - that of Rahul Sanghvi, the Delhi left-arm spinner. Thanks da!

6th Feb, Wednesday.

An very very late update: Gyanendra Pandey, the UP left-hander played a couple of matches against the Pakis. Iyer, you beauty, you deserve ten aappams! (Ravi Shastri ishtyle ;) )