Ranji Trophy: There is currently a big furor among Indian fans about the kind of “unfair” and “biased” selection, or rather non-selection of youngster Sarfaraz Khan. Sarfaraz has been piling up big runs in domestic red-ball cricket and currently averages 79.65 – the second-highest first-class average after only Sir Bradman for batters with a minimum of 50 FC matches – yet the 25-year-old has constantly been getting overlooked for more aesthetically pleasing players who have performed in the IPL.
Sarfaraz Khan’s case is not the first one in Indian cricket. In fact, there have been plenty of Sarfaraz Khans over the past few decades who have amassed big runs in domestic red-ball cricket, yet didn’t get any opportunity, or very less chances, to play for India in Test cricket.
Here are 3 players who did exceedingly well in Ranji Trophy, but didn’t get the faith of national selectors:
Priyank Panchal
Years ago, when his name was rising up with his brilliant domestic performances, Priyank Panchal was believed to carry forward the rich legacy of India’s Test openers. And even as Panchal continued to do well in domestic red-ball cricket, however, the selectors for some reason or another picked up bigger names as openers, mostly those who were doing well in the IPL.
By around 2019, when Panchal was at his peak and KL Rahul was dropped, it felt the Gujarat batsman would finally get his Test cap. However, the management and selectors gave another chance to Rohit Sharma and he grabbed it with booth hands.
33-year-old Priyank Panchal now has very little chance of playing for India. But he is one of the finest first-class openers of his generation, amassing 7901 runs in 111 first-class matches at an average of 47 with 26 centuries to his name.
Karun Nair
It is one of the gravest injustices done to a player in Indian cricket. In just his career’s 3rd Test innings, Karun Nair became only the second-ever Indian to record a Test triple century in 2016 against England. However, he got to play in just three more Test matches – all against a strong Australian bowling unit on tough pitches in the 2017 home series – after his incredible feat, and was dropped from the Test side altogether, never to get another chance again.
Despite Karun Nair scoring big runs in domestic red-ball cricket – his first-class average currently stands at a whopping 52 after 85 first-class matches – Nair didn’t get a recall to the Test side.
Amol Muzumdar
Amol Muzumdar has perhaps the most astonishing, heart-wrenching stories of a domestic legend not getting his Test cap in the world. Mazumdar was said to be as talented and skillful as Tendulkar but never got his chance to represent his country.
Mazumdar remained padded up when Sachin Tendulkar and Kambli piled up that famous 664-run partnership in the 1988 inter-school Harris Shield tournament. This anecdote not only remained with Mazumdar throughout his career, but also epitomized his luck.
He made his first-class debut in the 1993/94 Ranji Trophy and cracked 260 runs, the record for the highest fc debut score. In the coming years, even as Amol Muzumdar aggregated huge runs in domestic cricket, the Indian team’s batting order got filled up and settled down with the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, and Ganguly taking up the middle-order slots with Sehwag at the top.
In 2013 then, Amol Mazumdar ended his first-class career with 11,167 runs in 171 first-class games with 30 centuries and 60 fifties.
