5 Indian Cricketers Who Got Overshadowed During Ganguly-Tendulkar Era

Indian Cricket never had a shortage of talented batsmen in its ranks.  From Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar, from Rahul Dravid to Virat Kohli, India have always been blessed with world-class batters. In the early 2000s, India boast of an outstanding batting unit.

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The presence of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, and Virender Sehwag made the team a force to be reckoned with. The Indian batting unit, under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly, notched a number of records across formats.

All these batsmen made a truckload of runs for the team and notched a plethora of records. However, there were also players, during that era, who exhibited stellar performances in domestic cricket but didn’t get enough opportunities to showcase their ability internationally.

On that note, here’s a look at 5 cricketers who got overshadowed during that era:

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1. Wasim Jaffer

Wasim Jaffer: (Image Source: Twitter)

Wasim Jaffer was a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket. He is the highest run-scorer in the history of the Ranji Trophy. Hailed as a domestic legend, Jaffer has more than 17,000 runs to his name in first-class cricket

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However, due to a lack of opportunities, he couldn’t translate that performance in international cricket. In his international career, he played 31 Tests and managed to score 1944 runs at an average of 34.1, including 5 centuries and 11 fifties. In the year 2008, he was dropped out of the team, following a string of failures.

2. Amol Muzumdar

Amol Mazumdar: (Image Source: Twitter)

For those of you who don’t know, Amol Mazumdar is the second-highest run-scorer in the history of the Ranji Trophy. A legend in the Ranji Trophy tournament, Mazumdar helped his team win Ranji titles as many as seven times. He was known for his ability to handle pressure situations. In his debut game for Mumbai against Haryana, Amol Mazumdar played a sensational knock of 260 runs.

He played 171 first-class matches and scored 11,167 runs at an average of 48.13. Unfortunately, he never got a chance to represent the Indian Cricket Team in International cricket.

3. Mohammad Kaif

Mohammed Kaif: (Image Source: Twitter)

Mohammad Kaif is fondly remembered for his heroic knock against England in the Natwest series final 2022. He was also regarded as one of the best fielders India have ever produced. Kaif played 125 ODIs for India and made 2753 runs at an average of 32.00.

Given his resolute determination to play longer at the crease, Kaif could have a made a successful career in Test Cricket but didn’t get a lot of opportunities. He played only 13 Tests for India. He scored 624 runs at an average of 32.8.

4. Subramaniam Badrinath

Subramaniam Badrinath: (Image Source: Twitter)

The Tamil Nadu batter was also a stalwart in Ranji Trophy tournament. He is currently the sixth highest run-getter in the competition, with 7850 runs to his name. He was picked for the South Africa series at home for two Tests.

He played two Tests and scored a valiant 56-run knock in the first innings but failed in the next three innings. The 41-year-old never got the opportunity to play for the Indian Test team, thereafter. In 7 ODIs, he could only manage to score 79 runs at 15.8.

5. Hrishikesh Kanitkar

Hrishikesh Kanitkar: (Image Source: Twitter)

Hrishikesh Kanitkar isn’t a popular cricketer but his record in first-class cricket was nothing short of outstanding. In 146 first-class matches, Kanitkar amassed 10,400 runs at an average of 52.26. However, despite that, the former Indian cricketer didn’t get a lot of opportunities to make a successful international career.

In Test cricket, the 47-year-old could only manage to play 2 Tests, scoring 74 runs at an average of 18.50. Besides, in 34 ODIs, he managed to score 339 runs at 17.84. Had Hrishikesh got more opportunities in Tests, he could have compiled a host of records to his name.