Ravindu Shah: A consistent opener from the non-Test playing nations

Ravindu Dhirajlal Shah managed to remain as the mainstay of Kenyan batting for a few years - a remarkable achievement considering that Kenyans do not get to play too much international cricket. His career would have prolonged further had it not been for an injury.

A stylish and elegant batsman with the ability to score well on both sides of the wicket, Shah burst into the international scene in the Coco-Cola Tri Series featuring India and Bangladesh too.

Batting at No. 6, Shah scored a breezy half-century on his debut. He was the top scorer for Kenya and his partnership with Hitesh Modi helped Kenya overcome a wobble at 89-4 and post a respectable 236.

Promoted to open the innings in his third match, Shah scored 62 off 73 balls and then took two catches. Kenyans registered their first victory of the series. In the next match, Shah went a step ahead and scored 70 at more than run a ball. While the Kenyan middle order contributed well and posted a healthy 265, disciplined and tight bowling ensured Kenya stunned India by 69 runs- a memorable victory indeed.

Ravindu Shah emerged as a player to watch out for and was regarded as one of the few who had potential and could take Kenyan cricket to greater heights. He got starts in most of the matches in the 1999 World Cup but could not convert those into big scores. The Kenyans would consider the whole tournament disappointing.

In the next World Cup in 2003, Kenya famously marched to the semi-finals. Their opening match was a one-sided affair as South Africa chased down 140 with ten wickets to spare- the lone highlight for Kenya being Shah’s fighting 60.

With a half-century against Canada and few other useful knocks, Shah was more or less the linchpin of batting for Kenya. His presence at the top and solid knocks gave indications of his sense of responsibility.

In the super six game against India, the opening partnership was worth 75 in the twenty-first over when a misunderstanding with Kennedy Otieno saw Ravindu Shah being run out. The stage was set for a bigger score but Kenya lost the match and eventually lost against India in the semi-final too.

Shah had few injury concerns with an affected knee and few had even written him off. However, he responded with a century - his solitary one against Scotland and a couple of other good scores.

He remains one of the most consistent opening batsmen from non-Test playing nations. He admitted that lack of games hurt players like him - while others of his age got to play 300-400 games, he could hardly get 60.

In 56 ODIs for Kenya, he scored more than 1500 runs and is currently the fifth highest run-getter for them.