Five Indian Players Who Have Been Overlooked Despite Their Good Show

The manner in which the Indian cricket team has performed in the past two years, fans can rest assured that the players will bring laurels to the country. A lot of young talented players are coming through from the youth teams. With the Under-19 team doing ever so well, there are a plethora of Indian players brimming with talent, already knocking at the door.

However, in a country where cricket is much more than just a sport, to play for Team India, a player needs to fend off competition from some of the best talents of our country.

In such a scenario, various players despite their good performances fail to get a place in the national team.

Having said that, today, we will be list below, five Indian players who have been overlooked despite good show:

5) Shahbaz Nadeem

Indian cricket is well renowned for its spin bowlers. They have been very crucial for India in the past, and every year, more young and talented spinners are coming to the fore.

One such bowler who has been quietly going about his business in domestic cricket is Shahbaz Nadeem.

The player from Jharkhand has impressed one and all with his bowling credentials.

Nadeem has been playing domestic cricket for some time now, and the left-arm leggie has been continuously overlooked despite his good performances.

The 30-year-old player has performed admirably for India ‘A’ as well in the past.

Despite this, Nadeem has played just one solitary Test match for India, and he is one those Indian players who despite their obvious talent, have not been given any chance to play for the national team.

4) Ishan Porel

In the past few years, the Indian cricket team have been boosted by the presence of a lot of young pacers.

While fast bowling was not seen as Team India’s speciality in the past, nowadays, a plethora of young and talented fast bowlers are emerging from the youth teams. Bengal’s Ishan Porel also belongs to the same category.

Despite his young age, the paceman has shown maturity beyond his years. At 21 years of age, Porel is already troubling seasoned campaigners with his bowling, in domestic competitions.

On the back of his impressive displays in the domestic circuit, Porel was later handed a chance to impress with India ‘A’.

Next up, the right-arm pacer would like to represent the national team, but he will first have to prove his mettle with India ‘A’.

3) Jalaj Saxena

In this list of Indian players who have been overlooked despite their good performances, the next name is that of Jalaj Saxena. For the past few years, he has been doing well in the domestic circuit, but despite this, the all-rounder has never been considered good enough to play for the national team.

The 33-year-old has contributed with both the bat and ball for Madhya Pradesh. He has picked up more than 300 wickets in First-class cricket, whilst scoring more than 6000 runs as well.

Jalaj has been unfairly left out of the senior side and it seems unlikely that he will be considered in the future too.

2) Manish Pandey

The skipper of India ‘A’ in List-A cricket matches, Manish Pandey’s lack of consistency has cost him a place in the national team on many occasions.

Despite his obvious talent, Pandey belongs to that category of Indian players who have been overlooked quite a few times.

So far, he has failed to nail down a berth in Team India, despite impressing for India ‘A’ and his state Karnataka in the domestic circuit.

The right-handed batsman has been handed a few opportunities lately but he needs to make them count.

Aged 30, Pandey still has a decent three-four years ahead of him, but he will have to put in some good performances to make a case for the national side.

1) Shubman Gill

One of the most talented young Indian players to come from the youth teams, Shubman Gill is a gem of a batsman.

Despite his short career, the player from Punjab has already amassed a lot of accolades. He came into the limelight after becoming the highest run-scorer for India at U19 World Cup 2018.

Since then, there has been no looking back. From domestic competitions to the Indian Premier League (IPL), Gill has been scoring runs freely everywhere. The 20-year-old made his debut for Team India in 2019 but wasn’t given enough opportunities to impress.

The right-handed batsman has since put in some really good performances for India ‘A’, but he has been overlooked still.

Recently, Harbhajan Singh argued that Gill should have played in place of Prithvi Shaw in India’s Test series versus New Zealand, which speaks volumes about Gill’s talent.