The preparation for the big stage is often more tedious than it looks. It all starts right from the time one starts playing the sport and then resorts to domestic cricket to build a name for selection into the national team. With increasing competition to enter the national team many talents who had or have been performing consistently in the domestic stage are often looked away and do not get the deserved credit. Today in this article we will discuss those gorillas of domestic cricket who rocked the domestic stage but failed to make an impact on the national level.
The first player in the list is Amol Muzumdar who was a right-handed batsman and one of the biggest examples of a classy domestic level player. He once held the record for the most number of runs scored in India’s premier domestic cricket tournament, Ranji trophy beating the previous record held by Amarjit Kaypee. He was one of the jewels to be trained under Ramakant Achrekar and a companion of the little master Sachin Tendulkar. When Kambli and Tendulkar shared a 664 run partnership during the Harris Sheild match, many people know that he was the one in the eleven who was supposed to come out to bat next but did not get a chance. Throughout his domestic career, he played for many teams like Mumbai, Assam, Andhra Pradesh but could never cut into the Indian team despite his classic performances.
In his first-class debut for Mumbai, he scored a mind-blowing 260 which was a record for the highest score on a first-class debut. He later even captained the U-19 Indian team in 1994 and his proficiency called for him to be labeled as “New Tendulkar” by the cricketing minds around the globe. He considered retiring in 2002 but seeing his major achievements with the Mumbai team he captained the team and ensured they won that season of Ranji trophy. Post-retirement he also coached Rajasthan Royals. He is one of the unfortunate players who didn’t get a chance to play for India despite his excellent performance in domestic cricket scoring with an average near 50.
Wasim Jaffer is another player on the elite list. Jaffer was a right-handed batsman and a handy bowler currently the highest run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy surpassing the previous best Amol Muzumdar. He recently retired from domestic and all other forms of cricket but not before leaving his huge mark on the domestic stage. He is also the most capped Ranji trophy player for Mumbai. It all started when following a prolific school career, including an innings of 400 not out as a 15-year-old, he made his entry into the first-class cricket and scored a mind-blowing 314 in his second match only. He stood on the pitch for 675 minutes and found gaps with the utmost ease. He had a short National stint in Indian colors where he played 31 tests and 2 ODIs and his consistency was severely lacking in the test matches. He scored 2 double hundreds and more than 1000 runs but could never keep up to the name he had built with his Domestic cricket antics. Later when he stopped getting chances in the national team he devoted himself completely to domestic cricket and amassed a huge number of runs at an overpowering average. In the 256 first-class matches he has played he has amassed more than 19 thousand runs and this remains a record to reckon with.
Mithun Manhas is get another cricketer who has had a proficient domestic career. He has played the Ranji trophy for teams like Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. In the 157 matches, he played he scored 9,714 runs and stands fourth in the elite list of highest run-scorers in the Ranji Trophy. He has had a very successful domestic career which can be defined by the fact that he has 27 centuries and 49 half-centuries at an amazing average of 45.82 and a top score of 205 not out.
Adding to this he also has 40 wickets at an average of 46.65 with the best bowling figures of 3-16. He has been one of the consistent Domestic players of all time but did not get enough chances in the national team. In September 2015, Manhas joined Jammu and Kashmir cricket team for the 2015–16 Ranji Trophy season. He never did get a chance to play in the Indian team in any of the cricketing formats but he has been an in and out player in the IPL where he has had successful stints with Delhi Daredevils, Pune Warriors India and most famously as an all-rounder in the Dhoni-led Chennai super kings. He played a huge role in Delhi 2007-08 Ranji trophy victory and post-retirement he was appointed as the coach of Kings XI Punjab in 2017.
Another in the list is Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Kanitkar was a proficient batsman and made his first-class debut against a Sanjay Manjrekar led Mumbai team and the match ended in a draw. He was one of Maharashtra’s mainstays amassing a huge number of runs and bringing himself into contention for a national team call-up. Off the international circuit, he even played for the Brentwood cricket club in Essex in the year 2006. The English conditions did suit him well enough and he went on to score 1000 runs in the process at an average of 72. This was where he caught the eyes of foreign coaches and earned a lot of praise for his timing and temperament on the pitch. He even played for the Rajasthan Ranji team and later captained then in the 2010 season under who’s leadership Rajasthan team went on the lift the silverware.
Later in 2012, he achieved yet another feat of joining the elite league of players who played 100 Ranji Trophy matches and later decided to quit all forms of cricket in 2015. These players have ensured the Indian domestic stage runs pretty smoothly and those new talents get discovered based on their talent and temperament. There are many gems the Domestic cricket has prepared to be ready for the international stage. The competition in domestic cricket is pretty fierce and that’s what makes it one of the toughest seasons of cricket around the globe. The selectors and cricketing minds have their eyes continuously on the star performers in the domestic stages to provide the national team with better options.
