Unlucky XI: A playing XI consisting of the most unlucky current Indian cricketers

Bowlers

Mohit Sharma

Australia v India: Semi Final - 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup

Mohit Sharma is one of the most unlucky Indian cricketers. He has been consistently performing in the domestic circuit but has not been rewarded with many opportunities in the international circuit. Umesh is currently severely overshadowed by the likes of Mohammed Shami, Bhuveneshwar, Kumar, and Jasprit Bumrah. In fact, the main reason behind him losing his place in the squad is the emergence of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuveneshwar Kumar post the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup and an ankle injury.

Krunal Pandya

Australia v India - T20

Krunal Pandya has been performing well in the domestic circuit since 2016. Due to his exceptional domestic performances, he has been on the fringes of national selection for a while. When Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja fell out of favour with the Indian team, it looked as if he had finally made a move up the pecking order. When Hardik Pandya was sidelined from the Indian team due to an injury, it was thought that Krunal Pandya might get a look in but, surprisingly, Ravindra Jadeja was selected ahead of him. This decision raised quite a few eyebrows as Krunal Pandya was performing well in domestic cricket, while Ravindra Jadeja was clearly struggling even in the IPL.

Siddharth Kaul

Siddharth Kaul is a lethal death bowler

Siddharth Kaul is an Indian cricketer who has been an exceptional performer in the IPL in every season that he has played in. He has been impressive in the few matches that he has played so far, and has an exceptional strike rate of 14.5 in T20 Internationals. However, due to the outstanding performances of Bhuveneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and now Mohammed Shami, he rarely gets a chance to represent India in the Blue.

Shardul Thakur

6th Momentum ODI: South Africa v India

Shardul Thakur is a wicket-taking right arm fast bowler who can bowl in excess of 145 kmph. He was impressive in most of the matches he has played but ended up being quite expensive. What should be noted about his bowling is that he has a good outswinger and has great pace. He is also the kind of hit the deck bowler who can extract bounce. These are signs of a great Test bowler which is why he has a Test cap. But, he got injured in just the second over of his Test debut and hasn't been in the team since then. He can consider himself unlucky to lose his place in the squad due to injury and then being replaced despite great domestic performances.

Amit Mishra

India v Sri Lanka - ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 Final

When Amit Mishra first came into the scheme of things, he was directly competing with Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. After Anil Kumble's retirement, Ashwin and Jadeja were selected in front of him. Once Ashwin and Jadeja were dropped post the champions trophy, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal received opportunities. Life has done this to him and now it is unlikely that he will ever make a comeback considering his age. As he said in an interview, "life has been unlucky for him."