5 Unlucky Cricketers Who Missed Stardom Despite Skills

With the sudden rise in T20 cricket leagues, international cricket has also received a major push. With the T20 World Cup 2024 happening in the United States of America, the sport has laid the foundation in the minds of American sports lovers. Similarly, cricket has seen a slow but consistent rise in European countries and is now giving major competition to club football.

The impact of the sport is huge, and it is all possible because of the gradual rise in the quality of players in cricket. The cricket leagues have fostered a vast talent pool. However, this rise in talent has also spelled bad news for some cricketers. Every year, some talented and hardworking players fail to make it big.

In this article, we have listed five cricketers in the history of the sport who were unlucky and failed to become huge stars despite their talent.

1) Padmakar Shivalkar

The story of Padmakar Shivalkar begins in the 1970s when India witnessed a major improvement in the quality of cricket. Shivalkar was a prominent name in domestic cricket with his ability to spin the ball in any condition. During the 1972-73 Ranji Trophy final, Mumbai’s Padmakar Shivalkar recorded his career-best figures, scalping 13 wickets for 34 runs against Tamil Nadu.

In his entire first-class career, Shivalkar picked up 589 wickets in just 124 matches. However, his problem was that Bishan Singh Bedi was his direct competitor, and Bedi became part of Team India before him. The doors to Team India were closed for Shivalkar when Bishan Singh Bedi became the captain of the team.

2) Rajinder Goel

One of the best spinners in the late 1950s, Rajinder Goel made headlines with his talent at the age of 16 in the domestic circuit. His left-arm off-breaks were a major threat to the top batters of that time. Due to his top-class spin bowling, Goel bagged 750 first-class wickets, 637 of which came in Ranji fixtures.

The reason he was left behind was again because of Bishan Singh Bedi’s presence in the circuit. Rajinder was selected for Team India once when Bedi was dropped due to controversial statements on the BBC. However, it was a very short stint, and once Bedi made his comeback, Rajinder was back playing in the domestic circuit.

3) Stuart MacGill

Everybody knows Shane Warne from Australia as the top spinner. However, Stuart MacGill gave Warne tough competition during the late 1990s. MacGill was a right-arm spinner who made headlines with his variations in the domestic circuit. However, with Shane Warne’s rise in international cricket, MacGill had to face the consequences.

He became part of the Australian squad for a very short time, and even after playing at his best, MacGill had a brief association with the team.

4) Amol Muzumdar

Amol Muzumdar is known as one of the best opening batsmen in the history of Indian cricket. He is the highest scorer in first-class cricket and in the Ranji Trophy. With 11,167 runs in domestic cricket at an average of 48, Muzumdar scored 30 centuries.

However, due to the presence of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman, Muzumdar’s achievements were overlooked, and he was unable to make it to the Indian squad.

5) Wasim Jaffer

With 18,110 runs in 242 domestic matches at an average of over 50, Wasim Jaffer tops the list of India’s best domestic batsmen. Unlike others, Jaffer was selected for the Indian squad, and in his 8-year career with the team, he made just 31 appearances. He scored 1944 runs with 5 centuries and eleven fifties. However, once his form declined, the selection committee never gave him a second chance, ending his stint with Team India.

The stories of these five unlucky cricketers highlight the often cruel nature of competitive sports, where even immense talent and hard work sometimes aren’t enough to secure a lasting place in the spotlight.