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5 Players from the previous England tour of India who are missing in this series
Karun Nair and Jayant Yadav’s shinning show will be missed in this series
In the post-COVID-19 era international cricket has resumed and India is going to host the series against England. The series consisting of four-Test, five-20Is, and 3-ODIs will commence on 5th February in Chennai.
England came to India for the last time four years ago in 2016-17 for a bilateral series where the hosts won the series comprehensively. A few cricketers exhibited decent performance in that series but gradually they faded into oblivion, losing their rhythm and never got a chance in the Test squad. Even some of them have said goodbye to the game and a few are still with hopes of the national call-up.
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In this article let us search for such 5 Players from the previous England tour of India who are missing in this series.
Karun Nair
Karun Nair made his international debut in a One-Day International series against Zimbabwe in 2016. He made his Test debut against England at Mohali in the same year. It was the same series that Karun exhibited a rocking triple century to become the second Indian after Virender Sehwag in Test cricket. Despite having made a dream start Nair could not maintain his form. He failed to score runs in India's next series against Australia and was ruled out of the Test squad. The 29-year old Rajasthan-based batsman has tried to come back to mainstream cricket, playing in the IPL for the last four years but has failed to impress. Even he has failed to score runs in the first four games in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year.
Jayant Yadav
Jayant Yadav is another Indian cricketer who can be listed among the 5 Players from the previous England tour of India who are missing in this series. The Delhi-born off-spinner as well as a batsman who made his debut in Test in the same series against England four years ago had an impressive show as he scalped four wickets including both the innings and made 62 runs, batting in the lower order. He amassed 221 runs at an average of 73.66 including his maiden Test century in the series. Jayant was the third-highest run-getter in the series. But after India's home series against Australia, he lost his place in the Test team. He has played in IPL for Mumbai Indians in 2020. Currently, in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he has claimed four wickets for Haryana against Mumbai and seems hoping to get a national call-up again.
Haseeb Hameed
Haseeb Hameed was the find out of England squad in their 2016 Test series against India. In three matches the right-hand batsman scored 219 runs at an average of 43.80 with two half-centuries. At the age of only 20, he was being hailed as one of the most promising batsmen of England in the future during the series against India. But after the series, Hameed has not been able to find his place in the Test squad. A series of hand injuries became the key hindrances to his progress. However, the Lancashire-born returned to cricket after a few months and managed 250 runs in five matches for Nottinghamshire including his best score of 87.
Zafar Ansari
Zafar Ansari is another England off-spinner who once was called the spinner of the future by English cricket specialists. His consistent performance guided him to don England shirts in a One Day International match against Bangladesh and he made his Test debut against India in the same 2016. But he collapsed with both bat and ball. In three Tests the left-handed batsman was able to score only 36 runs and managed only three wickets at an expensive average of 54.33. Ansari had decided to quit cricket in the very next year. He finished his career with 4596 runs and 205 wickets in 182 matches in total. He played his last professional match for Surrey against Lancashire in 2017.
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Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir must be included in the list of 5 Players from the previous England tour of India who are missing in this series. He was one of the accomplished batsmen, who was honored with the number one spot in the ICC Test ranking back in 2009. But in 2016, the Delhi-based batsman looked struggling to find a place in the national squad. The home series also became the last for Gambhir as he had retired from the game in 2018.
In the 2016 Test series against England, the left-handed stylish batsman was included in the playing eleven only in Rajkot Test. But his scores in both the innings were 29 and a duck, respectively. Anyway, his performance comprises 4154 runs with nine centuries and 22 fifties in Tests cannot be forgotten. Even his memorable show in the finals of 2007 and 2011 World Cups where he was player of the final on both occasions is also not forgettable.
