5 Indian Cricketers Who Promised Big But Faded Away Too Soon: Sport is all about performances and cricket is no different. Players who perform consistently at the highest level establish themselves for a fruitful career ahead in their future. However, not every other player is able to succeed at the highest level. At times, a cricketer can show flashes of brilliance for once, but can soon fade away for his inconsistency while playing at a certain level.
Even in the past, there have been occasions when players have failed to cling on the opportunity and make the most of it. Here, we take a look at 5 Indian cricketers who had potential but couldn’t make it big in their respective careers:
Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa, the wicket-keeper batsman huge strides at the international level during his first few years. However, after a dream run in the T20 World Cup 2007, Uthappa faded away due to a lack of opportunities and inconsistency at the senior level.
He made a few comebacks along the road on the back of his domestic performances but couldn’t maximize his potential at the highest level. While he still continues to ply his trade for Rajasthan Royals in IPL, and for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy, Uthappa’s career couldn’t last for more than 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India.
Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel made his Test debut for India at a tender age of 17 against Australia in 2002. In his first couple of years playing for India, Parthiv was given a number of opportunities, though most of them in overseas conditions. However, the 17-year old Parthiv, despite his doggy wicket-keeping technique in Tests was persisted for a couple of years before he was replaced by the likes of Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni. The Gujarat-lad could never make a strong comeback into the Indian side. He was always looked like a second or third wicket-keeping option after Dhoni’s retirement in 2014. Parthiv last played for India in an away Test against South Africa in 2018.
Yusuf Pathan
The swashbuckling lower middle-order batsman from Baroda, Yusuf Pathan made a strong appeal for his case via his performances for Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL edition in 2008. However, by then, he had already made his debut for India in the T20 World Cup Final in 2007. Just like his debut innings, Pathan’s international career was short-lived. He was known as one of the hardest hitters in the game and continued to display his skills at the IPL level over the course of the last 12 years. But could never prolong his international career due to inconsistency in his performances.
Dinesh Mongia
The batting all-rounder from Punjab, Dinesh Mongia’s international career didn’t either last for too long. His handy skills both with bat and ball allowed skipper Sourav Ganguly to pick in most games before he was unable to cash-in on a host of opportunities. He was a part of the Indian squad in the World Cup 2003. A career that promised a lot ended in 2007 with Mongia managing to play a paltry 57 ODIs and a solitary T20I for India.
Karun Nair
Karun Nair had a rollicking start to his playing career for India. Only in his third Test for India, Nair scored his maiden triple century against England in Chennai in 2016. He became only the second Indian after Virender Sehwag to smash a triple ton in Test cricket. A career that was assumed to rocket off after a dreamy start, tapered off in the matches to follow. He had a horrible home series against Australia and didn’t find an opportunity in Indian colors thereafter. He was part of the squad during the England tour but failed to find a place in the playing XI in the entire Test series.
