Railways cricket team is a cricket team that plays in the Indian domestic tournaments. They made their first-class debut in Ranji Trophy 1958-59 Ranji Trophy and qualified for the final for the first time in 1987-88. They lost the final of the tournament by an innings and 144 runs.
Railways qualified for the finals again in 2000-01 season and lost the same against Baroda by 21 runs. They had their first success in 2001-02 and defeated Baroda in the final by 277 runs. Railways defeated Punjab in 2004-05 season of Ranji Trophy to clinch the trophy for the second time.
Railways won the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the List A domestic competition in 2013-14. They have won the Irani Trophy twice.
Here are the five players from Railways Ranji Team Who Played International Cricket:
5. Jai Prakash Yadav
Jai Prakash Yadav was born on August 7, 1974, in Bhopal. He played for Madhya Pradesh and Railways in domestic cricket. He is the only player on this list with only ODI appearance for team India.
The all-rounder didn’t have a successful stint at the International level and could play only 12 matches for the team. In a match against New Zealand, Yadav had a partnership of 118 runs for the 9th wicket along with Irfan Pathan. It is still among the top five highest partnerships for 9th wicket in ODIs. He scored his only half-century in International cricket in this match. Yadav played a total of 130 first class matches and finished with 7334 runs and 296 wickets.
4. Karn Sharma
Karn Sharma was born on October 23, 1987 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He made his first class debut with Railways during the 2007-08 edition of the Ranji Trophy. He played for Vidarbha in 2017 and Andhra in 2018 before returning to Railways in 2019.
The all-rounder is currently the captain of Railways T20 and List A teams. Sharma took 21 wickets at an average of 19.04 in 2012-13 season of Ranji Trophy and was awarded the Best Under-25 cricketer by BCCI. Sharma made his International debut for India in 2014 and played one Test, two ODIs, and one T20I.
3. Murali Karthik
Muarli Karthik was born on September 11 in 1976 and started his cricketing career as a medium pacer. He switched to become a left arm spinner and featured for Delhi’s Under-16 team. However, he could not make it to Delhi’s Under-19 team and switched to Railways for better opportunities.
He was quickly drafted in Railway’s Under-19 team and made a great impact with the ball and took 24 wickets at an average of 14.58 in his debut season. Karthik made his first class debut with Railways during the 1996-97 season and picked 16 wickets at an average of 19.37.
Karthik didn’t receive many opportunities to play for India during his prime years as the team already had Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. He went on to represent India in eight Test matches, 37 ODIs, and a single T20I. Karthik retired from all forms of cricket in 2014 and took 644 wickets in 203 first class matches.
2. Sanjay Bangar
Sanjay Bangar was born on October 11 in 1972 in Beed, Maharashtra. He played for youth teams in Maharashtra and Mumbai but received much success while playing for Railways in domestic cricket. Bangar made his first class debut with Railways in 1993-94 season.
He is the most successful captain for Railways in their history. Under his leadership Railways have won three domestic tournaments. He was the captain of the side when they lifted the Ranji Trophy for the second time in 2004-05 and Irani Cup 2005-06. Railways won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2005-06 for the first and only time under Bangar’s leadership.
Bangar retired from all forms of cricket in January 2013. He scored 8349 runs and took 300 wickets in 165 first class matches. Bangar is only one of the two players who have scored 6000 runs and taken 200 wickets in Ranji Trophy.
1. Budhi Kunderan
Budhi Kunderan, born October 2, 1939, was a wicketkeeper-batter. He played 18 Test matches for India and scored 981 runs at an average of 32.70. Kunderan scored over 5000 runs in 129 first class matches. He was the first wicketkeeper-batter to score more than 500 runs in a Test series.
He changed his name from Budhisagar Krishnappa Kundaram to Budhi Kunderan after receiving a decent amount of success in International cricket. At the time of his Ranji debut, Kunderan had already played a total of three Test matches for India and made a double-century.
