5 modern-day Indian cricketers who didn't live up to their full potential

In the world of cricket, there are two types of cricketers - those who burst into the international scene with a lot of hype behind them basis their talent or recent domestic form; and those who not many people would have heard about.

There are pros and cons to being either of these types of players. When a player comes in with people already knowing who he is, the popularity also comes with a mountain of expectations. On the other hand, not many people would support a player who they don't know, over the ones that they do. Either way, what they end up becoming is entirely dependent on how they grab the opportunities that present themselves.

In some cases, the ones you knew nothing about can go on to be some of the biggest names to have ever played the game; for example MS Dhoni. In other cases, players who you might know every single detail about may fail to impress you after all the buzz that they created.

There are dozens of cricketers in the very least, that nobody remembers anymore. Because if every single player that ever donned the blue jersey had made his mark on the squad, there would have been far lesser than a list of 229 players to have represented India in ODI cricket so far.

To put it in black and white - of these 229 players, some of them went on to be legends of the game, some of them made a decent name for themselves, and others didn't last long enough to make a mark. However, there is another category - players that looked like they were absolutely destined to succeed with nothing in their way to stop them, but didn't quite get there.

Here are 5 such players who could have been household names in Indian cricket, but didn't realize their true potential.

#1 Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina made his debut as a 19-year-old, all the way back in July 2005. Often spoken about as the 'next big thing' in Indian cricket, the southpaw had all the makings of somebody who would be a legend by the time he retired.

Having started off his career decently, Raina did have his moments but hadn't done anything that was unseen or unheard of. The introduction of T20 cricket saw Raina become more of a specialist in that format, as he became the first Indian to hit a century in T20 Internationals in the World T20 game against South Africa.

With India seeing the emergence of a young Virat Kohli who was later joined by Rohit Sharma in the same level of calibre, Raina failed to keep up. Eventually, Raina started batting in the middle order where he played some of his best innings, forming crucial partnerships with the then Indian skipper MS Dhoni. Unfortunately, his form in the middle order too didn't last as long as he would have liked and led to his ouster from the team.

Today, Raina still finds himself out of the squad, and it doesn't look likely that we will ever see him back with the men in blue. However, he is still hot property in the IPL, and is the second-highest run-getter in the tournament, behind only Kohli.

#2 Irfan Pathan

There seemed a time when nobody could ever emulate the greatness of India's legendary all-rounder and World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev. Sourav Ganguly's Indian team had absolutely all bases covered with explosive opener, batsmen who could anchor, finishers and excellent spinners and swing bowlers. The only thing that they lacked so to say, was a genuine all-rounder who bowled fast-medium pace.

When Irfan Pathan made his debut at a time like this, pressure and expectations were high. Pathan impressed one and all with his magic early on in his career, with the highlight being his first over hat trick in the first over a Test against Pakistan. However, he couldn't keep up the tempo as he saw himself being left out of the squad a few years down the line.

Despite being a strike bowler who swung the ball beautifully as well as a handy batsman who could hit a few delightful boundaries, Irfan Pathan today could have been in a different league altogether.

Having played his last Test in 2008 and his last ODI in 2012, it is safe to say that his best days as a cricketer are behind him

#3 Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa was all set to strengthen an already strong Indian middle order when he made his debut back in 2006. The then 21-year-old's performances in the domestic arena had impressed the Indian leadership team, due to which he was called in to the play for the big boys.

Having played 46 matches, the swashbuckling batsman from Karnataka could only manage 934 runs with a below-par average of 26. The fact that his highest score is 86 is a clear statement that a player of Uthappa's class could not reach the heights he would have wished to.

Uthappa was always in and out of the Indian outfit, but one of the things he is best known for is playing a selfless knock which helped Rohit Sharma to get to the highest ever ODI score of 264. He's still a very sought after player in the IPL and was recently bought by the Rajasthan Royals for INR 3 Crore in the IPL 2020 Auction.

#4 Varun Aaron

At a time when the Indian pace bowling attack consisted mainly of swing bowlers in the world of Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar and Shaun Tait, Varun Aaron soon became the face of India's hope to have a pacer with raw pace. The speedster showcased an ability that not too many had - i.e., bowling the ball at a speed of over 140-145 kmph.

While the Jharkhand lad impressed with his ability to bowl fast, he didn't create the problem that he would've liked to for the batsmen. He ended up going for runs, and has an economy of 6.62 runs per over from 9 matches, to his name. Though he did pick up 11 wickets from the 9 games that he played, his inability to control the ball soon found him warming the benches and eventually out of the squad.

If Aaron had worked well enough on his weaknesses, we could well have seen him be a part of Virat Kohli's Indian pace attack which is currently dominating world cricket.

#5 Saurabh Tiwary

Saurabh Tiwary wanted to be what every kid from Jharkand (or the whole of India) wants to be - the next MS Dhoni. Following in his role model's footsteps, the hard-hitting left-hander was smashing the ball to all parts in the domestic arena, which eventually earned him an India call up in 2010.

Having played just 3 matches before being dropped, Tiwary failed to do anything out of the ordinary. One might argue that he wasn't given enough of a chance, but his domestic performances over the years have also been ordinary, with a batting average of just 31 after having compiled 2107 runs from 123 FC matches. Even in the Indian Premier League, the last time Tiwary made meaningful contributions to his team was during his first stint with Mumbai Indians.

Had Tiwary realized his potential, we may have seen him don the finisher's role like his idol and may have even seen them finish matches together.