Indeed, it may seem easy at first sight but if you think carefully there have been so many idiots in the Indian cricket team right from 1990 from when I started watching cricket till date. That is what made me think very hard for this endeavour of mine, to single out the 5 worst Indian cricketers in my opinion. I wasn’t surprised to see 4 out of my 5 choices turned out to be bowlers. After all, at least our batsmen must have something that makes us overoptimistic about them. However since time immemorial I can recall that our bowlers have had a lot of stick and that is not without cause. We’ve always had an extremely rich supply of these jokers who keep embarrassing themselves on the international scene. At least most our batsmen can play decently on home soil, but 90% of our bowlers very rarely perform with consistency on any soil. No denying that. So, now let’s have a look at my choice for the 5 lousiest cricketers India has had, best termed as clowns in a circus.
[Clown no. 5.]Venkatesh Prasad: I think he should be crowned king of the clowns, for at least he has something to show for his so called efforts, not like those to follow who don’t even have that solace. Well, he had a good run-up, …..actually that’s all he had. He negated his whole run-up with a mere tossing of the ball while delivery, his high arm action generating all the pace making his run-up close to pointless. And by doing that he used to achieve little above leg break bowler Kumble’s pace between 95 to 110 kmph. I don’t think he ever exceeded 115 kmph. He may have, although it must only have been the odd slip of the hand. He has only one 5 wicket haul in One Dayers v Pakistan which I’d have credited to him but for his own statements. Once in a Ten sports production of session analysis Mr. Prasad was called and they were discussing reverse swing. While the other expert was telling us about the technicalities of the art, Prasad burst out: “But, sometimes you don’t have to maintain the ball at all, just hold it like this (positioning for outswing), don’t think about the position of shine and throw it straight .And it happens by itself. That’s how I took the 5 wicket haul v Pakistan. The batsmen had no clue what was happening.” And no doubt neither did he, judging from his explanation of reverse swing. Really I doubt if there ever was a bowler who relied more on flukes. Most of the times , he used to get thrashed by most batsmen, his average of 35 in both forms of the game is proof of that. He also has an economy of close to 5 in One Dayers where everyone targeted him and in tests he got a bit of a breather with an economy of 3 since the urgency of hitting was lesser.His biggest advantage was the unlucky Srinath at the other end, who kept batsmen quiet , who in turn tried to vent their frustration on Prasad giving him a wicket or 2 sometimes in the process. When it came to his batting, he hardly ever knew to hold one properly, confidently leaving the ball in order to get bowled on numerous occasions. But he does have 100 odd wickets in both forms of the game, which is why I’ve rated him best amongst the clowns.
[Clown no. 4] Vikram Rathore: A true clown indeed, a real spectacle to look at with a huge beard grown most of the times I can remember. This man was the most pathetic test opening batsman India had ever had. He had a natural tendency to play across the line. So, the obvious question? How, with that did he make it to the Indian team? Miracles do happen then. With limited footwork, he was a permanent target for l.b.w. but he had a plan B for getting out as well – Edging the ball to the slips and if that didn’t work out, plan C -he could also make use of the leaning edge to loop it in the air to get caught at mid-wicket or square leg. His natural affinity got him a boundary or two but he never got past 44.Even that was lucky, with such pathetic style of batting. He played 6 tests , the final 2 with South Africa, where Donald and Co. badly molested him with their bowling penetrating his frailties with huge success. He managed two 50’s in One Days though, which is why he’s not the worst of the lot.
[Clown no. 3] Narendra Hirwani: A supposed leg break bowler, his number of wickets was equal to the number of matches in One Dayers, picking the odd fortunate wicket having played only 20 odd matches. And that at an economy of 4.5 , having played mostly during the days when 250 was a good team score. Pathetic, that too at an average of 31! Although , he had a similar average in tests, he did pick 60 odd wickets in around 20 matches, which is why he’s not the primary clown in Indian Cricket. But the funniest part of his game was his fielding. He used to start running from the ball when it was behind him and continued running after it had overtaken him all the way to the boundary , the thought of a dive or interception never even occurring to him. He would pick up his pace only to keep up with the ball but the thought of actually trying to stop it never occurred to him. Probably felt he was jogging in the park! Maybe, he was in the team to just lose some weight after all.
[Clown no. 2]Venkatapathy Raju: Well, he averaged 31 in both forms of the game and with a slow left arm orthodox action, ….with no spin at all if I may add, and a predictable close to 9 ‘o’ clock arm action , he would perfectly fit into Geoffery Boycott’s definition of a ‘Buffet Bowler’. I don’t recall a single match where he wasn’t hammered, why wouldn’t he be with so little in his repertoire. All he must have achieved during an 11-year career was to probably set the record for the numbers of getting in and getting out of the team. Mostly making a guest appearance in this regard, I never saw the point in his inclusion. Could defend the ball well with the bat for consolation and did take some 90 wickets from 30 odd matches although in 11 years most of that may have come from 3 or 4 matches played in the subcontinent. But something is better than nothing which is why he’s not the biggest clown.
[Clown no. 1]Abey Kuruvilla: From his 10 tests, he averaged 36 with an economy of above 3 when a test innings of such run-rate was unheard of. From his 25 one day matches, he averaged similarly, with an economy of close to 5.He never had a clue as to where he was pitching the ball.Why his batting average was also only close to 5 in both forms of the game. Equally pathetic fielder, I guess the only thing he has achieved is hit a blind six at long off. Good for nothing with his huge frame, he definitely has my vote for India’s biggest cricketing clown of all time.
I know people like Raman, Ankola, Chauhan and Dodda Ganesh may not have been far behind but the above mentioned specimens were definitely the biggest clowns of Indian Cricketing fraternity for me. Hope you enjoyed reading!