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3 Indian Players Who Faded Out Despite Promising Starts To International Careers

Riyan Parag and Ambati Rayudu [X]Riyan Parag and Ambati Rayudu [X]

After whitewashing the Sri Lankan team in the T20I series, the Indian team failed to continue their performance in the ODI series. They lost the series by a 2-0 margin. But during the two series, we saw a few players making a debut in the Indian colours. 

Notably, this was the first series under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir as the head coach of India. Out of the things that was noticeable in this series, the most important was that the management is looking to back utility players who can be useful for the team in all the situations. This approach saw the debut of a player like Riyan Parag, who has had a stellar IPL 2024 season. 

In both his T20I and ODI debuts, Riyan Parag performed nicely, especially with the ball in hand. Though he did not leave a huge impact with the bat, his abilities in this trade is already proven. Going ahead, Riyan Parag might become a vital cog in the Indian mechanism. However, there have been players in Indian cricket, who have gone to oblivion after a promising start to their international career. 

Here is a look at three Indian players who failed to prosper even after having a good start to their career.


3. T Natarajan

T Natarajan had a great start to his T20I career [X]T Natarajan had a great start to his T20I career [X]

The Indian pacer had a couple of good IPL seasons and that saw him break into the national side. T Natarajan was known for his expertise in death overs with the use of his yorkers and cutters. He made his debut for Indian in an ODI against Australia, where he did not perform as per the expectations. However, in his T20I debut he bowled four overs and picked up three wickets in them, while conceding 30 runs in them.

His performances in the limited overs, saw Natarajan being a part of the Test team too. However, his performance graph gradually went down and slowly he faded away from the main scheme of Indian cricket. 

2. Ambati Rayudu

The Indian batter had some stellar seasons in the domestic circuit before getting a break into the national team. Ambati Rayudu with his talent and capacity was the centre of attraction when he made his debut. He also had a great start to the career and scored a half-century in his first game in the international circuit. During his career, Rayudu had an average of over 47 in ODIs and was pitched in as the perfect number four batter in the format. However, due to some selection fiascos and change in the Indian plan of schemes, Rayudu's career came to a premature end.

1.Narendra Hirwani

Narender Hirwani had a great debut in international cricket [X]Narender Hirwani had a great debut in international cricket [X]

The Indian spinner made a great debut at a ripe young age of 19 years. In his first Test, Narendra Hirwani picked up 16 wickets in two innings and had a brilliant start to the tournament. In the next three Tests, Hirwani picked up 20 wickets and showed a lot of promise to be a great bowlers. However, when the action shifted outside India, Hirwani started to lose his efficiency and his career gradually came to an eclipse.