In a consistent mad hunt of brilliance, domestic cricket in India has taken new heights. There are stars being forged every now and then with just hardly a handful making it to the international roster. Going by the glittering antiquity of the tournament, giants were forged and Gods were slain. Sadly, not all god-killers could live to tell their tales while not all giants could outlive their timid counterparts.
Despite being absolute sensations of the Ranji Trophy, a few simply couldn’t make it to the bigger picture as the international scene kept on eluding them owing to varying circumstances. In this story, we will take a quick look at five cricketers who were absolute beasts of the Ranji Trophy but failed to secure a national team call-up.
#1 Amol Muzumdar
You do not smash a double-century on your Ranji debut unless you are Amol Muzumdar. This man was unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time as during his school days he had Sachin preceding him while his days at India A saw Sourav Ganguly doing the honours of captaincy for the Indian cricket team. He managed to 11167 runs at an astonishing average of 48.13 that also starred the likes of 30 centuries and 60 half-centuries.
#2 Padmakar Shivalkar
Shivalkar created a lot of hopes for the Indian camp in the 1960s with an unorthodox brand of spin that bamboozled a lot of discernible names in his days. His career-best figures are overtly magical to cast a difference between the runs and the number of scalps he claimed as he managed to register numbers of 8 for 6, precisely 8 wickets for 6 runs. In a span of 24 years for Bombay, he claimed 589 scalps, making him one of the most remarkable figures in domestic cricket.
#3 Ranadeb Bose
It was rare to see any fast bowler in India sporting the style of Jason Gillespie back in the day with his mane burning brighter than a lion. Ranadeb Bose belted out an impeccable domestic career that provided a lot of hopes but the towering fast bowler lost his momentum midway. He claimed 317 first-class wickets while his List A career got him 126 scalps. India was in dire need of a brutal fast bowler in those times but Bose could only garner 130 clicks on a regular basis that ruled him out of contention from the national call-up.
#4 Yere Goud
A man who displayed similar attributes to the one of the Indian wall, Rahul Dravid, Goud made his debut for Karnataka before switching loyalties to Railways. He went to a couple of Ranji tournaments for Railways before finally returning to Karnataka. The 2006 captain of Karnataka, Goud managed to score 7650 runs from 134 matches at a fine average of 45.53. With the highest score of 221, Yere Goud still couldn’t make the final cut for the national team.
#5 Rajinder Goel
The best bowler in the history of domestic cricket never made it to the international circuit. What can be more shocking to a cricket fan than this? However, it is the truth. In fact, such towering was his legacy that even the iconic Sunil Gavaskar confessed to having been scared to play him. The man claimed 700 domestic wickets while his Ranji tally read 637 scalps. Once again, caught in the wrong era, his career came to a halt with the Indian call-up eluding him.
