Indian Cricketers who were given late debuts

Cricket is a game which is known for promoting young cricketing talents across the world. A lot of cricketers start their international career while being in the teenage. The biggest example is the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who made his international debut at the age of just 16.While plenty of cricketers started their careers at early ages, there have been few who had to wait for a long time to get a berth in the Indian national team.Here are some of the players who made late debuts.

#5 Sameer Dighe

He was picked to play for the Indian ODI team at the age of 31 at Brisbane against Pakistan in the year 2000. Wicketkeeper by role, he played 6 tests and 23 ODIs for India. He was a part of the flurry of wicket keepers that India had tried at that time until MS Dhoni was discovered in 2004.

Dighe scored only one half century in his entire international career. He was more in the team for his keeping skills than the batting skills.

Probably the most important contribution from him came in the third test against Australia in 2001 at Chennai. Batting last India needed to score 155 runs to win the test match. After the top order was dismissed, Dighe was at the crease along with the tail-enders. Those were dodgy moments as Glenn Mcgrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne were all at the Indians. He played a fighting knock of 22 runs from 48 balls to take India to a 2 run victory and a historic 2-1 series win.

Dighe remains a rare India player who was handed his national team debut in his thrities.

#4 Saba Karim

The wicket keeper batsman made his ODI debut at the age of 29 years in 1997 at Bloemfontein against South Africa. He played 34 ODIs and a solitary test for India.

He scored 55 in his debut match which remained his highest score and his only half century in international cricket. He never quite got a chance to cement his place in the squad due to the presence of Nayan Mongia. His career came to a bizarre end as he suffered an injury in his right eye while keeping wickets to Anil Kumble. He had to undergo surgery which ultimately resulted in the demise of his career.

He has also served as a national selector for the Indian cricket team.

#3 Stuart Binny

The son of the great Roger Binny played his first international one day match at the age of 29 against New Zealand at Hamilton in 2014. He has been a regular since then in the scheme of things for Indian team. He has featured in 6 tests, 14 ODIs and 2 T20Is.

He is slotted in the team as an all rounder. He bowls medium pace and is handy with the bat lower down the order. He holds the record for the best bowling figures in the ODIs by an Indian. He picked up 6 wickets giving away just 4 runs in 4.4 overs which aided India to dismiss Bangladesh for a mere 58 defending 105 runs.

In the IPL, he was earlier a part of Mumbai Indians. Later he moved to Rajasthan Royals where he has made important contributions in the side’s victories.

#2 Kedar Jadhav

The dynamic batsman from Maharashtra made his international debut at the age of 29 in 2014 in an ODI against Sri Lanka at Ranchi. Since then he has only played 4 ODIs and 2 T20s.

The batsman short in stature is popular for his attacking style of batting. He likes to dominate the bowlers right from the word go. He possesses a strike rate of 104.58 in his List A career.

He is currently a prominent member of the Delhi Daredevils squad in the IPL. Prior to DD, he has been associated with Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Royal Challengers Bangalore as well.

#1 Sanjay Bangar

The current batting coach of India first burst onto the international stage at the age of 29. He made his debut in 2001 in a test match at Mohali against England. He played 12 tests and 15 ODIs for the team.

He is fondly remembered for his marathon innings in 2002 in the Headingley test against England. He scored 68 runs of 236 balls and shared a stand of 170 runs with Rahul Dravid for the 2nd wicket. He defended the deadly swing attack of England which comprised of Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Caddick, Alex Tudor and Andrew Flintoff.

It was due to his stubbornness at the crease that India was able to negotiate the early swing in the overcast conditions and went on to score a mammoth total of 628 runs. India won the match by an innings and 46 runs.

After retirement from cricket, he has taken up the job of coaching. Before being the batting coach of the Indian team, he was the coach of Kings XI Punjab in the IPL which made it to the finals in 2014 under him.