Cricket's lost talents: Brilliant Mohammad Asif, Vinod Kambli and others

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  • When it comes to cricket, or any sport for that matter, it is the legends and the greats that leave an everlasting impression.

    These are the players who have risen high above their contemporaries to attain stardom and fame through sustained brilliance over the course of an entire career. The likes of Sir Don Bradman, Sir Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting are just a few names whose cricketing achievements will stand the test of time.

    Either through perseverance or through sheer natural genius, these legends have made the most of their available talents to etch their name into the history books.

    On the other side of the spectrum, however, are players who have failed to optimise their talent to the maximum. Despite being prodigiously talented, these men have failed to sustain success over a long period of time through a combination of reasons.

    The skills demonstrated by these players rightly raised expectations, but they ultimately failed to deliver in earnest. Here, we look at six such cases of cricket’s ‘lost talents.’

    VINOD KAMBLI

    Kambli

    When it comes to India’s lost talents, the name of Vinod Kambli rings loudest. He rose to fame as a 17-year-old when he put on a record unbeaten stand of 664 runs along with a certain Tendulkar in a Mumbai inter-school match.

    Their rise through the ranks in various age-groups meant that both Tendulkar and Kambli were expected to become mainstays for India at one point. However, while Tendulkar achieved instant stardom and never really took his foot off the pedal, Kambli ran out of gas fairly quickly despite an explosive introduction to international cricket.

    Making his Test debut three years after Tedulkar, Kambli scripted a surreal start to his India career. Two double tons and as many centuries in his first seven Test appearances showed a batsman who would dominate cricket for a long time.

    Unfortunately, a weakness against the short-ball and a susceptibility to cut straight towards point meant that Kambli’s career withered away quickly.

    His last Test appearance came at the age of 23 and although he did make several comebacks to the ODI side, the left-hander could never really replicate the dizzying heights he scaled initially.

    He averaged 54.20 in the 17 Test appearances, but only a paltry 291 runs came in his final 10 matches in the format.

    GRAEME HICK

    Hick

    By the time Graeme Hick made his England Test debut against West Indies in 1991, he had already plundered a staggering 57 tons at first-class level. By the time he finally put down his bat in 2008, the middle-order batsman had stretched that tally to a whopping 136, which placed him on eighth position in the all-time list.

    However, despite making six centuries for England in 65 appearances, Hick never really met the lofty expectations he had set with his performances at county level.

    A middling Test average of 31.32 saw Hick make his final England appearance in 2001 with the right-hander returning to dominate county bowling attack subsequently.

    His overall first-class, List A and T20 tally of 64, 372 runs are only behind fellow Englishman Graham Gooch.

    Surprisingly though, the prolific run-scorer, who dominated at domestic level, was unable to translate the same at international level and a susceptibility against quality pace proved to be his undoing.

    MARK RAMPRAKASH

    Ramprakash

    Just like Hick, Mark Ramprakash was another England batsman whose domestic dominance was rarely seen at international level. Barring for a penchant of always turning up against Australia, the elegant right-hander never quite made his mark against international bowlers.

    A decade-long England career produced 52 Test appearances and he was only able to average a paltry 27.32.

    Blessed with exquisite technique, the right-hander’s failure for England was all the more puzzling given the tremendous success he enjoyed at domestic level subsequently. While he was always a prolific run-scorer in county cricket, Ramprakash stepped up a couple of gears in domestic cricket after his final England Test appearance in 2002.

    He was in beast-mode for Surrey in 2006 and amassed 2,278 runs over the course of the season at a staggering average of over 100. He scored a century ever 4.3 innings for Surrey and remains the only batsman at county level to average more than 100 in two successive seasons. His crowning moment came in August 2008 when he notched up his 100th first-class century.

    His domestic dominance between 2002 and 2012 only adds to the surprising lack of success he had with England prior to the period.

    UMAR AKMAL

    akmal

    The curious case of Umar Akmal needs no introduction and the fact that his cricket career could be effectively over at the age of 29 is a sad indictment of his wasted genius.

    For so long he was expected to be the Pakistan star batsman that Babar Azam has currently blossomed into. A Test century on debut, in treacherous conditions in Dunedin against a formidable New Zealand pace attack, underlined his promise.

    A century in only his third ODI appearance for Pakistan only went on to raise further expectations. A gifted and elegant batsman with a wide array of strokes, the right-handed batsman seemed to have the world at its feet after a sensational introduction to international level.

    However, a weak temperament, indiscipline and multiple run-ins with the Pakistan board has meant that Akmal’s career will go down as cautionary tale instead. While he was handed a surprise recall to the Pakistan squad last year for the series against Sri Lanka, Akmal failed miserably and was promptly discarded once again.

    That could very well be the last time we see him in a Pakistan shirt, with a corruption case now lodged against him. That his last first-class appearance just three months ago saw him score a double-ton shows his talent is still clearly there. Unfortunately for Pakistan, it has only culminated into patches of brilliance where he has registered just three tons in 221 appearances overall.

    MOHAMMAD ASIF

    Asif (5)

    When it comes to wasted Pakistan talent, look no further than Mohammad Asif. With an effortless bowling action and an uncanny ability to seam the ball both ways, the Pakistan pacer was unleashing some sensational bowling spells in a five-year international career which lasted between 2005 and 2010.

    With accuracy similar to that of Glenn McGrath, Asif made fast bowling look like an art with the manner in which he set up batsmen for dismissals. Pakistan’s 2007 tour of South Africa, the Kandy Test of 2006 against Sri Lanka or his brilliance in Sydney against Australia in 2010 are just some of the times where Asif’s genius came to the fore.

    However, just like Akmal, his transgressions off the field curtailed what could have been a legendary career. Doping violations and a subsequent involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing saga meant that Asif’s career did not progress beyond 23 Tests, 38 ODIs and 11 T20Is.

    Asif has only himself to blame in the end and it is a shame that his enviable talents were not put to the best of use.

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