There is always a gap between the good and the best. The good fades away after a scintillating start while the best weathers every storm to make a name for themselves. Some cricketers are gifted enough to play long while many of them have to go through hard grinds over the course of their career.
Some cricketers commence their journey and after a certain period of time, it seems that they have been playing forever. It’s the class and charisma of the individuals that architect International journeys of their own kinds. Their expedition adds to the motivation of budding cricketers.
Considering the rigours of International cricket, the players are never in a comfort zone. It only needs a period of lean patch to plant doubts about their ability to run parallel with the elasticities of the sport. Therefore, playing for a national team is worth a grand salute.
Some players are regular features of the team while some of them had to go through several comebacks over the span of their career. The following is a list of cricketers making their debut in and around 2003 who are still chancing their luck in the national side.
Ashish Nehra
Marred by injuries, Ashish Nehra’s stint with the Indian team never blossomed. Nevertheless, teams got a fair taste of him in International cricket. Even after criticisms surrounding his inconsistent performances, Nehra refused to surrender to the noise.
Nehra was far from being curbed. He worked day in and day out on his bowling and fitness. At the age of 36, he turned out to be one of the fittest players present in the field for the Chennai Super Kings. It triggered a comeback and steered him in the Indian team for the ICC World T20 on his home turf.
At 37, he may not be in contention for a comeback, but he has always been a threat to the oppositions as England got a taste of his medicine in the 2003 World Cup. It’s hard to imagine that a player of such caliber has played a handful of matches for his country over a career spanning 17 years and more.
Career Span: February 1999- Present (17 years and 9 months)
Tests: 17
ODI’s: 120
T20I’s: 23
Younis Khan
Younis Khan, being an integral part of the Pakistan setup has hardly got his dues. He doesn’t look good to the naked eyes, but can accumulate runs at will. Most of his counterparts have bid adieu to the game, but Younis is standing rock-solid.
Younis lets his willow do all the talking. He was dropped from the ODI squad against Australia in 2004 citing drab performances in the previous series. Younis replied with 468 runs at an average of 156 with a top score of 213 in the Test series that followed. He also captained Pakistan to the World T20 title in 2009.
He has been in the thick of things for quite a long time and even at the age of 39, he doesn’t seem to drop his guard. He is currently the 13th highest run-getter in Test cricket and also the highest run scorer for Pakistan in the game’s longest format.
Above all, he is within touching distance of becoming the first Pakistani to accumulate 10,000 runs in Test cricket. Also, he has got bucket-like hands in the outfield, which rarely spill catches.
Career Span: February 2000- Present (16 years and 8 months)
Tests: 111
ODI’s: 265
T20I’s: 25
Marlon Samuels
Tainted by match-fixing scandals and other unwanted controversies, the dingy dimension of Marlon Samuels’s career was more on show than his cricket. After making his Test debut at the age of 19, he was deemed to be something enormously special for West Indian cricket. Samuels’s stint with the West Indies team hasn’t seen a smooth ride thereafter.
He was handed over a ban of two years, following allegations of bringing disrepute to the game of cricket, which didn’t make it easy for Samuels to survive in the West Indies team. Just when his career graph took an upward leap, it crashed down prodigiously to make things worse.
At 35, Samuels is a stalwart in the West Indies line-up in all three formats of the game. With Caribbean cricket in dire straits in Test cricket, Samuels’s role becomes that much more critical in lifting them from the shambles.
Career Span: October 2000- Present (16 years and 1 month)
Tests: 71
ODI’s: 187
T20I’s: 51
Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh’s story is stirring enough to set fire in the belly of every embryonic cricketer. More than cricket, it’s the stringent attitude of Yuvraj that sets him apart from every other sportsperson. He has defied death with sheer disdain to claw his way into the Indian team.
Though being a pale shadow of his stupendous self and his body enduring a hammering by cancer, the zeal of embracing the sport with both hands hasn’t died down. He has been an indispensable component of the Indian team since 2000, when he donned the Indian jersey for the first instance.
Bat was always his favourite ammunition, but he was also India’s man with the golden arm, churning out scalps at frequent intervals. It may be a tumultuous task for Yuvi to sneak past a bunch of vivacious youngsters to the Indian team, but his electrifying attitude will always remain alive in the field of play.
Career Span: October 2000-Present (16 years and 1 month)
Tests: 40
ODI’s: 293
T20I’s: 55
Mohammad Sami
Mohammad Sami is a skiddy customer for a batsman to deal with and a bowler who could hurry batsmen into precarious positions. With hat-tricks in all three formats of the game, Sami’s skills with the ball had never been a point of concern. He was no mug with the bat either.
Somewhere down the line, the pugnacious potential couldn’t replicate itself on the field. An array of dreary shows along with rise of promising fast bowlers in Pakistan ensured that Sami’s tenure was cut short. Inconsistent performance with the ball turned out to be his biggest enemy.
He has made his way into the team quite a few times only to be sidelined again. He bowled decently in the ICC World T20 in India, but hasn’t been in the reckoning since then. It’s the 16th year for Sami in the International territory and all Sami can hope for is to end his career on a high.
Career Span: March 2001- Present (15 years and 8 months)
Tests: 36
ODI’s: 87
T20I’s: 13
Misbah-ul-Haq
There’s light at the end of the tunnel- The statement’s been justified by the wily old fox of Pakistan cricket, Misbah-ul-Haq. The man from Mianwali commenced his illustrious career at the age of 27, an age where most batsmen have already blended themselves as per the dynamics of the sport.
The drab part was that his career never kicked off until in 2007 when he was awarded the central contract by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The T20 World Cup acted as a new lease of life for Misbah as it marked one of the stupendous comebacks in International cricket.
At 42, he isn’t getting any younger, but age isn’t a detriment in his glorious career. Though he hung up his boots from limited overs cricket in 2015, he is still a proud leader of the Pakistan Test team and one of their best bets in the longest format of the game.
Career Span: March 2001- Present (15 years and 8 months)
Test: 69
ODI’s: 162
T20I’s: 39
Hamilton Masakadza
Hamilton Masakadza’s debut Test ton at the age of 17 proliferated a buzz about something extraordinary in Zimbabwean cricket. Unfortunately, the hype didn’t transpire as per expectations as his career fast forwarded. Nonetheless, he undoubtedly is Zimbabwe’s stalwart in the line-up.
With a rumbustious style of batting along with some canny medium pace, Masakadza is more than handy as a cricketer. Fortunately or unfortunately, he got his maiden opportunity to represent Zimbabwe in World Cups in its 2015 edition Down Under.
He has often been under the hammer for not scoring swiftly enough. In reply he mustered 1000 runs at a strike-rate of 88.08 in 2009. At 33, Mazakadza still has got a fair bit of cricket left in him. He has currently played in the tri-nation series against Sri Lanka and West Indies.
Career Span: July 2001- Present (15 years and 4 months)
Tests: 32
ODI’s: 169
T20I’s: 50
Mashrafe Mortaza
Mashrafe Mortaza burst on to the scene as Bangladesh’s first ever genuine fast bowler. He bowled with venom and got under the skins of batsmen. As a batsman, he used the long handle to good effect. He was swashbuckling in nature and gradually turned into a matured head, captaining Bangladesh in all forms of the game.
Being a fast bowler is a kind of a curse from the fitness point of view. Lack of fitness dropped down his pace. Getting his knees and ankles operated innumerable times didn’t help his cause. Previously, he used to hurl in 145 kmph thunderbolts and presently he ambles along to bowl medium pace.
As a leader, he has always been on his toes. At 33, he is still an integral component of the Bangladesh set up. He is currently captaining the Comilla Victorians team in the Bangladesh Premier League. There is still a lot of cricket left in the veteran.
Career Span: November 2001- Present (15 years)
Tests: 36
ODI’s: 166
T20I’s: 49
Mohammad Hafeez
Referred to as ‘The Professor’ by his teammates, Mohammad Hafeez has been as good as inextricable from Pakistan cricket. From opening the batting to hurling off-breaks to leading the side, Hafeez was hard to keep out of the contest.
Since his debut, roller-coaster performances made sure that Hafeez was in and out of the team at regular intervals. He piled on an audacious 10 man of the match awards in ODI’s. In the same year, he became the third player after Sanath Jayasuriya and Jacques Kallis to score 1000 runs and take 30 wickets in ODI’s in a calendar year.
In 2015, he was banned from bowling for 12 months due to a suspect action. At 36, the chances of his comeback look bleak, but one can’t count out the possibilities considering Hafeez’s temperament and tranquil mind.
Career Span: April 2003- Present (13 years and 7 months)
Tests: 50
ODI’s: 177
T20I’s: 77
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download Cric Rocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more!
