5 Ignored Domestic Indian Giants:The selection of the Indian team is no easy business. In a nation of 1.3 billion plus people, it is a difficult task to select a squad of 15. The selectors’ job is not easy as they can’t just rely on numbers. They need to have a vision and look at what is needed for the team at large.
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There have been cases where the selectors have made instinctive decisions. It has paid off at times but this has meant that few of the deserving cricketers were overlooked. The impression for fans at times is that the selectors ignore a select few players.
We look at a few such ignored domestic Indian giants:
#5 Jalaj Saxena
It has been yet another season where Jalaj Saxena has been a standout and yet has been ignored for national selection. Time is clearly running out for 36 years allrounder. He has often sent timely reminders to selectors with his effective all-round performances. But nothing he has done so far has caught the eyes of the selection committee.
He has scored 6,567 runs in 133 FC games at an average of 34.74 and picked up 410 wickets at a mighty average of 25.97. Indian fans keep lamenting about India’s lack of all-round options. Here is someone who has been banging the door for 18 years but no one has been able to register his call for selection.
#4 Abhimanyu Easwaran
He will be turning 28 this September. Age is still on his side but one gets a feeling that Abhimanyu Easwaran is far away from the selectors’ radar. The right-handed opening batter for Bengal has continued to pile up runs in the domestic circuit. He has had a fairly successful run with the A team too. But Easwaran is yet to get a call from the national selectors.
He might have expected the selection call for the tour to West Indies but he has been conveniently ignored once again. Easwaran averages 47.9 in 87 FC games scoring 6,557 runs. But apparently, it might not be good enough for national selection.
#3 Sarfaraz Khan
There is only one batter in the history of cricket who has a better FC average than Sarfaraz Khan. His name is Sir Don Bradman. The middle-order batter from Mumbai was identified as a child prodigy. He started making waves right from school-level cricket. Khan has seemingly taken his batting to a different level in First Class cricket.
He has played 37 FC games scoring 3,503 runs at an outstanding average of 79.65. His strike rate of 70.21 is a standout too. Khan has notched up 13 centuries in 54 innings but this is not enough for a national call-up.
#2 Amol Muzumdar
There is hardly anyone as unlucky as Amol Muzumdar in Indian domestic cricket. Amol made his FC debut in the year 1994. He represented Mumbai and Assam in the Ranji Trophy. Amol scored a truckload of runs but could never win the trust of national selectors.
He pummelled 11,167 runs in 171 FC games at a fine average of 48.1. Amol scored 30 centuries and 60 fifties. His only folly was that his career coincided with the beginning, rise, and end of the Fab Four. He called time on his domestic career in 2013.
#1 Rajinder Goel
One of the finest ever bowlers in the history of the game, Rajinder Goel sadly never played for India. Goel played 123 Ranji Trophy matches and picked up 637 wickets at an outstanding average of 17.28. He is 107 wickets clear of the next best on the list. India’s preference for the spin quartet in the 60s and 70s meant Goel was never in contention.
He kept persevering for 26 years (1959-85) playing first-class cricket but that didn’t prove to be enough. His 53 five-wicket hauls is another Ranji record. These numbers just show life might not be fair always!
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