Five Cricketers Who Played For India At World Cups But Later Faded Into Oblivion

Playing for India at the World Cup is an honour that few cricketers are able to achieve in their respective careers. The World Cup is considered as the pinnacle of all tournaments in international cricket, and therefore, players who have been able to represent their country at the biggest stage should be very proud of their exploits.

The first cricket World Cup was played in 1975, and since then, various cricketers have gone on to become legends, on the back of their performances at the global spectacle. Of these legendary players, many players are from Team India as well.

However, there are some players, who did play at the ICC World Cups, but they were suddenly dropped from the national team, and since then, they’ve become completely anonymous.

Here are five cricketers who played for India at the World Cup, but disappeared into obscurity later:

5) Salil Ankola – 1996 World Cup

Few people know that actor Salil Ankola actually played for India at the World Cup, in 1996. He is better known for his second innings, as Salil took up acting, after having left out of the national team post the World Cup.

The 52-year-old made his debut in 1989 and playing the majority of his cricket alongside fellow great Sachin Tendulkar. Salil did represent India at the 1996 spectacle but disappeared into obscurity at least in terms of his playing career.

He struggled to leave a lasting impression at the big stage, and in 1997, he started his acting career and was a part of popular shows such as ‘Big Boss’ and ‘Ssshhhh…Koi Hai’.

4) Sadagoppan Ramesh – 1999 World Cup

Former Tamil Nadu opener Sadagoppan Ramesh belongs to the category of players who have represented India for less than 50 matches but still played at the World Cup. The 44-year-old made his debut in 1999 and was subsequently selected in India’s World Cup squad later that year.

In all, he played five matches at the tournament, but couldn’t make any noteworthy impact, and soon Ramesh was ousted from the team. Since 2001, he disappeared into obscurity, having played just 24 ODIs and 19 Tests.

3) Dinesh Mongia – 2003 World Cup

Dinesh Mongia also belongs to the ilk of players who played for India at World Cups but disappeared into obscurity later on in his career, despite playing 57 ODIs. Mongia took part in 11 matches at the 2003 ODI World Cup, but he could score a paltry 120 runs overall.

The 42-year-old played for Punjab in domestic cricket and made his debut in 2001 vs Australia. A part-time spinner, Mongia would go on to play at the biggest stage, but unfortunately, he flopped and his career went downhill from then on.

2) Munaf Patel – 2011 World Cup

India won the 2011 World Cup on home soil, after a long wait of 28 years, after having earlier done so in 1983 under the guidance of Kapil Dev. MS Dhoni’s match-winning knock ensured that his team would get their hands on the coveted trophy, and Munaf Patel was also a part of that iconic team.

In his career, Patel represented India in 70 ODIs, but after the 2011 World Cup, he disappeared into obscurity. The 36-year-old pacer called time on his career in 2018, after having played 13 Tests, and 3 T20Is as well.

1) Mohit Sharma – 2015 World Cup

Since the inception of the Indian Premier League (IPL), many players impressed domestically and went on to play for the national team. Mohit Sharma took the same path and found a place for himself in India’s squad for the ODI World Cup 2015.

The 31-year-old was handed a big opportunity at the beginning of his career, to play at the World Cup, although Mohit’s underwhelming displays meant that he was dropped from the national team after the tournament.

The pacer from Haryana failed to replicate his performances of the IPL on the international stage and disappeared into obscurity later in his career.