5 Indian spinners who could have become Test legends if they had played for other countries

#4 Sunil Joshi

Sunil Joshi could entangle opposition batsmen with his relentless accuracy

In line with his state's tradition of producing high-quality spinners, Sunil Joshi's emergence during the mid 90s raised the possibility of an all-Karnataka bowling attack for India. The foursome indeed played together in six Tests.

While the likes of Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath and to a lesser extent Venkatesh Prasad had significant careers, Joshi could manage only 15 appearances at the highest level of the game. 41 wickets from those matches do not give a suitable glimpse into his admirable prowess.

He was an accurate spinner who could force batsmen to commit mistakes through sheer persistence. Aside from his steadiness with the ball, Joshi was also a handy batsman lower down the order.

With Kumble taking up one spin slot for himself, the rise of Harbhajan Singh effectively ended the left-armer's career. If only he had played for a team like New Zealand, then the utility cricketer might have had the opportunity to feature in more international matches.

By the time a certain Daniel Vettori came through the Kiwi ranks in 1997, Joshi had carved a niche for himself in the Indian domestic circuit.

Test career (1996 - 2000)

41 wickets from 15 matches at an average of 35.85 and strike-rate of 84.1 with 1 five-wicket haul

First-class career (1992/93 - 2011)

615 wickets from 160 matches at an average of 25.12 and strike-rate of 62.1 with 31 five-wicket hauls and 5 ten-wicket hauls