FOUND AND LOST

In Indian cricket, you have encountered them ever so often 8212; the men who would be kings. If only they had shone true to their early sparkles. Some like Maninder Singh and Venkatesh Prasad failed to live up to their initial promise but went on to reasonable careers. A few others bowed out too soon after taking the green by storm. K Shriniwas Rao looks back at the four biggest let-downs of Indian cricket

Sadanand Viswanath

Vishy jumped into the international scene as the most suitable successor to Syed Kirmani. He occupied the wicket-keeper8217;s spot against England in Bangalore, starred in the 1985 Benson and Hedges World Series and then toured Sri Lanka the same year. Unfortunately, though, Viswanath could play only a handful of matches before finding his way out. He is best remembered for giving it back to Javed Miandad 8212; a classic stumping off Siva following a verbal exchange 8212; during the Indo-Pak final at Melbourne. His other big moment came with a memorable six at Bangalore8217;s Chinnwaswamy Stadium against Allan Border8217;s Australians that remains one of the most colossal hits in international cricket. An instinctively aggressive and hard-hitting batsman, he could also work magic behind the stumps. On winning the world championship in Australia, captain Sunil Gavaskar lauded Viswanath8217;s keeping efforts as one among the many reasons why India romped home. It was only unfortunate that after just a brief stint of three Tests and 22 ODIs, Viswanath found his place being taken over by Kiran More and Chandrakant Pandit.

3 Tests, 11 catches, 31 runs

22 ODIs, 17 ctaches, 7 stumped, 72 runs

L Sivaramakrishnan

No better example of talent going off the track than that of Laxman Sivaramakrishnan. The wiry leg-spinner from Tamil Nadu was the name to watch out for as soon as he made his Ranji Trophy debut in 1981-82. A seven-wicket haul helped him surge ahead into the Indian team 8212; as one of the youngest ever then 8212; that toured Pakistan in 1982-83. Siva made his Test debut against West Indies in Antigua later that year. However, his moment of reckoning came in Mumbai then Bombay a year and half later, where he picked up 12 wickets for 181 runs against England. He went on to bag the Man-of-the-Series award with 23 wickets. An outstanding fielder, Siva played a crucial role in India winning the 1985 World Championship in Australia. However, after that tournament, Siva did little of note. It was an unexpected, sudden loss of form in the series that followed 8212; against Sri Lanka and Australia 8212; and the magic, it seemed, was lost for good. Siva soon found himself out of the Indian squad, only to return for a brief stint during the 1987 World Cup. But by then, the curtains had almost permanently rung down.

9 Tests, 26 wickets, Best: 6-64

16 ODIs, 15 wickets, Best 3-35

Narendra Hirwani

Narendra Hirwani could8217;ve been the country8217;s spinning icon but when he finished his cricketing career of almost 20 years, he was still the Ranji Trophy player who never got over with the half-chances that were forced his way. Hirwani8217;s international career got off to a dream start when he took a record 16 wickets on debut against the West Indies in 1987-88. However, in the tournaments and tours that followed, he failed to follow it up much less better it. Later, with the entry of Anil Kumble, Hirwani was gradually elbowed out. The leg-spinner, who lacked mostly in accuracy than turn, continued to play the next 15-odd years of his cricket in the domestic circuit. He piled up wickets by the tonne until he finally called it a day last year.

17 Tests, 66 wickets, Best: 8-61

18 ODIs, 23 wickets, Best: 4-43

Vinod Kambli

Those who saw him in the record 664-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar for Shardashram High School in Mumbai, say he was definitely the more flashy and aggressive of the two. At 17, his career failed to catapult the way Tendulkar8217;s did and Kambli made his Test debut three years after his schoolmate. As a budding youngster, Kambli had hit his first Ranji Trophy ball for a six and his career took off with that spunk. In his first seven Tests, he blasted two double centuries and two centuries, showing deft footwork 8212; especially against the slow bowlers. Kambli once sent Shane Warne for a leather hunt, collecting 22 runs in one over. However, his penchant for indiscipline saw him make as many as nine comebacks in the Indian team. He was just 24 when he played his last Test for India in 1995.

17 Tests, 1084 runs, 4 100s, HS 227, Avg 54.20

104 ODIs, 2477 runs, 2 100s, SR 71.9, Avg 32.59