Indian bowlers who shone in their debut test but soon became ‘anonymous’, 3 spinners included

New Delhi. There have been some players in cricket who raised hopes of becoming the stars of the future by performing brilliantly in their debut test but soon disappeared from the international scene. Due to lack of consistency in performance, lack of luck and other reasons, they could not become ‘long-distance players’. Talking about Indian players, the most prominent names are Narendra Hirwani and Surinder Amarnath. Wrist spinner Hirwani created a stir by taking 8 wickets in both innings of his/her first test but unfortunately his/her career did not last long. Similarly, Surinder Amarnath was once considered the best left-handed batsman of the country. Surinder, the elder brother of Mohinder Amarnath, the vice-captain of the World Cup 1983 winning Indian team, made a brilliant start in international cricket by scoring a century in his/her debut test but could play only 10 tests and 3 ODIs.

In bowling, there are some Indian players who gave their best performance in their debut test but could never repeat that or better performance after that. These bowlers include three spinners.

Tall fast bowlers who played Tests for India, some played ‘long innings’

Let’s take a look at those bowlers who recorded their best bowling analysis in their debut Test

‘Heeru’ created a stir by taking 16 wickets in his/her debut test

Right-arm wrist spinner Narendra Hirwani was born in Gorakhpur, UP, but his/her cricketing career was Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Hirwani learned the nuances of bowling under the supervision of Sanjay Jagdale and made it to the Indian team in 1988 by consistently performing well in domestic cricket. Popularly known as ‘Heeru’, Hirwani made a blazing debut against West Indies in Chennai at the age of 19 and took 8 wickets for 61 runs in the first innings and 8 wickets for 75 runs in the second innings. This is the best performance (16/136) by any bowler in a debut test so far. Australia’s Bob Massie, like Hirwani, has also taken 16 wickets in a debut test, but he/she had spent more runs than Hirwani for this.

The special thing is that Hirwani performed this against the strong West Indies team of the 1980-90 era which included legends like Desmond Haynes, Phil Simmons, Richie Richardson, Viv Richards, Carl Hooper and Jeff Dujon. After this performance in the first test, Hirwani became a sensation in world cricket but he/she could never repeat such a performance again. After the arrival of leg spinner Anil Kumble in Indian cricket, Hirwani started lagging behind. his/her international career ended with 17 Tests and 18 ODIs. he/she took 66 wickets (best 8/61) in Tests at an average of 30.10 and 23 wickets (best 4/43) in ODIs at an average of 31.26. Hirwani later also remained a member of the selection committee.

Sehwag-Gilli and Head, famous for their stormy batting, all three have a special record of 0

Abid Ali took 6 wickets in his/her debut test in Adelaide
Right-handed batsman and medium pacer Abid Ali played 29 Tests and 5 ODIs for India from 1967 to 1975. Apart from being an excellent batsman and useful bowler, Abid was also an excellent fielder. In terms of current limited overs cricket, he/she would have proved to be a good all-rounder. Born in the city of Hyderabad, Abid made his/her Test debut against Australia in Adelaide in December 1967 and took 6 wickets for 55 runs in 17 overs in the first innings itself. his/her victims included legends like Bob Simpson and Bill Lawry. he/she also took a wicket in Australia’s second innings. After this performance in the debut Test, Abid could never take 5 wickets in an innings. his/her career ended with 1018 runs (highest 81) and 47 wickets (highest 6/55) in 29 Tests. Abid, a member of the Indian team that played in the 1975 World Cup, scored 93 runs in 5 ODIs and also took 7 wickets.

This player played only 4 Tests and has 2 big records to his/her name, he/she had equalled his/her grandfather and grandson

Wrist spinner Amit Mishra opened his/her ‘paw’ in his/her debut test

Haryana’s Amit Mishra was rated very highly as a right-handed wrist spinner. However, due to the presence of legends like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in his/her era, ‘Mishraji’ got limited opportunities in the Indian team. Mishra made his/her ODI debut in April 2003, but he/she had to wait till October 2008 for his/her Test debut. In his/her debut Test against Australia in Mohali, he/she took 5 wickets for 71 runs in the first innings and 2 wickets for 35 runs in the second innings. Mishra played an important role in Team India’s victory in the match, but after this, he/she could never take 5 wickets in an innings in the next 21 Tests. Mishra, who took 76 wickets in 22 Tests, took 64 wickets (best 6/48) in 36 ODIs, which included 5 wickets in an innings twice. It was Mishra’s misfortune that despite having an excellent bowling average of 23.60 in ODIs and 15.00 in T20Is, he/she could not be a regular member of the Indian team. he/she was last seen playing a T20 match against England in February 2017 in the Indian jersey.

Pure bowler but very ‘expensive’, wickets at an average of 45+ in Tests, has taken 3 hat-tricks

‘Ikhaar Express’ profit momentum was tremendous but…

There have been only a few fast bowlers with express speed in the Indian team. In such a situation, Munaf Patel started getting media attention even before his/her Test debut against England in 2006. Born in Ikhar, Gujarat, Munaf was capable of creating fear in the batsmen with his/her balls. Naturally capable of fast bowling, Munaf learned the tricks of bowling under the guidance of Dennis Lillee at the MRF Pace Academy. In his/her debut Test against England in Mohali, Munaf took 3 wickets for 72 runs in the first innings and 4 wickets for 25 runs in the second innings. In Tests, batsmen like Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff were also surprised by the speed of his/her balls. However, with each passing match, Munaf could neither maintain this speed nor such performance. Due to focusing on accuracy rather than speed, he/she remained an ordinary fast bowler. Munaf, who was a member of the 2011 World Cup champion team, played 13 Tests, 70 ODIs and 3 T20 matches. he/she has 35 wickets in Tests (best 4/25), 86 wickets in ODIs (best 4/29) and 4 wickets in T20Is to his/her name.

The batsman who scored centuries in the 98th, 99th and 100th Tests, scored 180+ runs all three times

Offbreak bowler Sarandeep could play only 3 Tests and 5 ODIs
Punjab-born Sarandeep Singh was considered a great off-break bowler but due to the presence of Harbhajan Singh, he/she got limited opportunities to play in the Indian team. Sarandeep made his/her Test debut against Zimbabwe in November 2000 in Nagpur and took 2 wickets for 70 runs in the first innings and 4 wickets for 136 runs in the second innings. 4/136 was Sarandeep’s best performance in Test cricket. After this, he/she played two more Tests and could take only 4 wickets in them. his/her international career ended with 10 wickets at an average of 34.00 in three Tests and 3 wickets at an average of 60.00 in 5 ODIs. However, Sarandeep took 314 wickets in 92 first class cricket matches and 97 wickets in 77 List A matches.

tag: amit mishra, Sarandeep Singh, Team India, Test cricket