Cricket is a game that is dominated by bilateral tournaments. The World Cups and the other mega-events happen only once in a while. Hence, most of the cricket that a team plays is in such bilateral encounters. India is a nation, like all other cricket-playing countries, that plays a lot of these games. Hence, in the midst, many players come and go but a lot of fans do not remember it. In this article, we take a look at the list of five players you might not know have played for India.
India has a lot of depth when it comes to cricketing resources. Almost every position in an XI has at least two players who can represent the nation at a time. Hence, competition for places is immense. Therefore, a few players do not get a lot of opportunities in the Indian Team.
1) Faiz Fazal – 1 ODI
Faiz Fazal is a legend when it comes to domestic cricket. He has scored tons of runs in the Ranji Trophy and has also done well as a skipper. Yet, the southpaw did not get many chances with Team India. Faiz played just one ODI game for India. This was in 2016 when a second-string Indian squad toured Zimbabwe. It was on that tour that the likes of KL Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal made their limited-overs debuts for India. Faiz scored a half-century in the game, that too, at a decent strike rate of above 90. However, he did not get to play another game.
2) Gurkeerat Singh – 3 ODI’s
In 2016, against Australia, Gurkeerat Singh Mann played three games for India. Although he was doing well in domestic cricket, the Punjab all-rounder does not have memorable performances in IPL. Hence, it was a surprise when he was selected to play for Team India. The management was trying to have a player in the middle-order who could bowl and maybe that’s why Mann was used. However, he was part of three games but could not leave an impression.
3) V. R. V. Singh – 2 ODI’s and 5 Tests
V. R. V. Singh was a player who became popular because of the potential he showed in the domestic circuit. He once again became famous when he played for Kings XI Punjab in the initial seasons of IPL. However, in the middle, the player also played a few games for Team India. In 2019, the pacer announced his retirement from the game. He later became the coach of Chandigarh in domestic cricket.
4) Laxmi Ratan Shukla – 3 ODI’s
Laxmi Ratan Shukla is one of the players you might not know have played for India. Although he was actively part of IPL, not many knew that the Bengal all-rounder had played for India well before IPL started. It was in 1999 that he played three games for India. All these three games were against different opponents. He scored a total of 18 runs and picked one wicket and could therefore not justify his selection.
5) Sreenath Aravind – 1 T20I
Sreenath Aravind is popular because of his productive outings in IPL with RCB. Although he performed well, he did not set fire any tournament with his displays. That said, the left-arm pacer still got a chance to play for India. It was in 2015 against South Africa in Dharmasala. However, Aravind was not able to impress instantly with his display. Hence, he never played for India again. Therefore, he is one of the players you might not know have played for India.
