As the Indian team gears up for their four-month-long tour of England, we look back at players from recent past tours whose Test careers came to an abrupt halt after a visit to the country.
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India’s recent Test trips to England have been largely forgettable, with just two wins in 14 matches across a decade. The 2011 tour was overwhelmingly poor, ending in a 4-0 whitewash, and while subsequent visits have resulted in a win apiece, there has been just one draw to go with 11 painful losses.
It isn’t surprising then, that some of the players from past tours took the fall for the team’s abysmal showings. The following players were all part of at least one of the last three tours, with none of them representing India in the format since.
Statistics are from the tour mentioned in brackets
Sreesanth (2011)
3 Tests, 8 wickets @ 61.62, BBI: 3-77
Sreesanth’s second – and final – tour of England came in 2011, when he was 28. Inconsistency had crept into his international career before it came to a controversial end altogether, but even on a tour where there was little to rejoice for India, Sreesanth exhibited brilliance on the odd occasion. The seam was impressively upright and the venomous outswing emerged sporadically – his three-wicket haul in Nottingham was an exhibition of masterful bowling, but it didn’t last long. The Oval Test on the tour proved to be his last, unless, of course, there’s an improbable comeback.
Praveen Kumar (2011)
3 Tests, 15 wickets @ 29.53, BBI: 5-106
That Praveen Kumar played just six Tests for India is a mystery in itself. On his day, Praveen had immeasurable control over his line and could dart the ball both ways. On the 2011 tour, his bowling stood out amidst the ruins, and he returned home with his name on the Lord’s Honours Board and 15 wickets, the most for India. The lack of pace had always been against him but he stood out in swinging conditions in England. It turned out to be his last Test assignment though; by the following year, India had discovered another gem in Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
RP Singh (2011)
1 Test, 0 wickets, BBI: 0-118
RP Singh was holidaying in Miami when a sudden Test recall came his way, three years after he had played his last game. India were desperately searching for a miracle, but the comeback lasted all of one game, where RP’s bowling showed little of the vivaciousness that made him a hero in 2007. It was evident that the left-arm quick was past his prime in the format, and the Oval Test was a cruel reminder, as RP stacked up 118 runs without a wicket, and didn’t don the white India kit again.
Pankaj Singh (2014)
2 Tests, 2 wickets @ 146.00, BBI: 2-113
International glory eluded this domestic workhorse, who is one of only two seamers to take 400+ wickets in Ranji Trophy history. Pankaj toiled for years before he managed a Test spot, but the dream lasted all of two matches. India included the tall pace bowler with the hope that he would get enough zip on English pitches, but he finished with horror figures of 0-179 on debut. Just a couple of wickets would follow in his next appearance and that was it for him at Test level.
Dinesh Karthik (2018)
2 Tests, 21 runs @ 5.25, HS: 20
Karthik’s Test career has been an odd one. His debut came before MS Dhoni and extended much after him, but Karthik played only 26 Tests, few of them not even as a specialist wicketkeeper. His deeds with the bat on the 2007 England tour are well documented, but it’s easy to forget that Karthik was also a member of India’s recent-most visit, playing two Tests in 2018. It wasn’t too memorable for him: included as a replacement for Wriddhiman Saha, he mustered scores of 0, 20, 1 and 0. Incidentally, Rishabh Pant took over for the remaining games, and there was no looking back.
