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5 Indian pacers who faded away too soon

Cricadium Staff
By Cricadium Staff
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RP Singh
RP Singh

#5 Irfan Pathan

There cannot be a more disheartening story of a player than Irfan Pathan’s. He caught the eyes of everyone for his stunning swing bowling. He was being compared with the legendary Wasim Akram for his abilities to move the ball in the air and many deemed him as the best Indian swing bowler after Kapil Dev.

He was at the peak of his prowess for close to 3 years and was India’s premier wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs. He became the only bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match when he achieved the landmark against Pakistan in 2006.

But the pacer steadily lost pace as well as swing which led to his exclusion from the side. He did make a great comeback in the 2007 World T20 where he was the Man of the Match in the final against Pakistan. But soon after, he faded away and since 2012, he hasn’t played a single international match.

Pathan’s international stats:

Format Matches Innings Wickets BBI Economy Average Strike Rate 5W
Test 29 54 100 59/7 3.29 32.26 58.84 7
ODI 120 118 173 27-May 5.27 29.73 33.84 2
T20I 24 23 28 16-Mar 8.03 22.07 16.5 0

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India, as a cricketing nation, hasn't been known for too much firepower in the bowling department over the years. The batting stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid have always been the faces of Indian cricket and very seldom has a pacer been at the helm. It's only very recently India have witnessed strength in the pace department, otherwise historically, they have been heavily reliant on the spinners. Barring a few fast bowlers like Zaheer Khan, Javagal Sreenath and Ajit Agarkar, not many had pretty long careers. Every now and then, a few quality pacers showed up and grabbed the attention but they failed to last long.

Here are 5 such pacers who didn't have long international careers

#1 Praveen Kumar

A gentle medium pace bowler who had a mastery in swinging the ball both ways, Praveen Kumar started with a bang in international cricket. In the Commonwealth Bank series down under, he played a pivotal role in India's triumph and caused troubles to the Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting. He was the frontline seamer for India in the ODIs for a while but injuries cut short a pretty promising career. Even today, he is just 30-years old but long gone from the international arena. He last played an international game in 2012 against South Africa in a T20I.

Kumar's international stats:

Format Matches Innings Wickets BBI Economy Average Strike Rate 5W
Test 6 11 27 106/5 2.6 25.81 59.67 1
ODI 68 67 77 31/4 5.13 36.03 42.1 0
T20I 10 10 8 14/2 7.42 24.12 19.5 0

#2 Munaf Patel

The right-hander was once being compared with Glenn Mcgrath for his accuracy as he could bowl consistently on the same line and length ball after ball. When Munaf first arrived, he bowled well over 140 clicks and add to that the reverse swing, made him a lethal bowler. He was also a part of India's World Cup winning squad in the year 2011. But since then, he has been missing from the thick of things. He wasn't the swiftest of athletes and had an injury-marred career due to which his pace dropped down considerably. The 33-year-old subsided too soon from the game and India missed out on what could have been a hugely successful fast bowler.

Munaf's international stats:

Format Matches Innings Wickets BBI Economy Average Strike Rate 5W
Test 13 25 35 25/4 3.05 38.54 75.94 0
ODI 70 67 86 29/4 4.95 30.27 36.67 0
T20I 3 3 4 25/2 8.6 21.5 15.0 0

#3 RP Singh

The left-arm fast bowler Rudra Pratap Singh had a scintillating start to his international career. He won the Man of the Match award in his just the 3rd ODI versus Sri Lanka and later on, achieved the same feat in his debut Test against Pakistan. He could swing the ball miles, that too, at a fair click. The Uttar Pradesh led played an instrumental role in India's victory in the 2007 World T20 where he ended up as India's leading wicket-taker. That was the last highlight of his career and he made his last international appearance in 2011. Since then, he has been playing domestic cricket as well as doing Hindi commentary on television.

Singh's international stats:

Format Matches Innings Wickets BBI Economy Average Strike Rate 5W
Test 14 25 40 59/5 3.98 42.05 63.35 1
ODI 58 57 69 35/4 5.48 36.03 33.96 0
T20I 10 9 15 13/4 6.82 15 13.2 0

#4 Lakshmipati Balaji

Balaji first came to the fore in the year 2004 during India's tour to Pakistan where he made a significant contribution to his team's historic victory. He could bowl fast and swing the ball, that troubled the Pakistani batsmen throughout the tour. The right-hander also got popular for hitting the humongous sixes batting lower down the order. But his career was heavily influenced by injuries otherwise, who would have thought that a pacer of his caliber would end up playing just 8 Tests for the country. He last made an appearance in Test cricket in 2005 but later developed skills for the shortest format of the game that earned him a place in the Indian side for the 2012 World T20.

Balaji's international stats:

Format Matches Innings Wickets BBI Economy Average Strike Rate 5W
Test 8 15 27 76/5 3.43 37.19 65.04 1
ODI 30 30 34 48/4 5.57 39.53 42.56 0
T20I 5 5 10 19-Mar 7.56 12.1 9.6 0

#5 Irfan Pathan

There cannot be a more disheartening story of a player than Irfan Pathan's. He caught the eyes of everyone for his stunning swing bowling. He was being compared with the legendary Wasim Akram for his abilities to move the ball in the air and many deemed him as the best Indian swing bowler after Kapil Dev. He was at the peak of his prowess for close to 3 years and was India's premier wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs. He became the only bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match when he achieved the landmark against Pakistan in 2006. But the pacer steadily lost pace as well as swing which led to his exclusion from the side. He did make a great comeback in the 2007 World T20 where he was the Man of the Match in the final against Pakistan. But soon after, he faded away and since 2012, he hasn't played a single international match.

Pathan's international stats:

Format Matches Innings Wickets BBI Economy Average Strike Rate 5W
Test 29 54 100 59/7 3.29 32.26 58.84 7
ODI 120 118 173 27-May 5.27 29.73 33.84 2
T20I 24 23 28 16-Mar 8.03 22.07 16.5 0

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