In the history of Indian cricket - which cricketers came in as mediocre and then improved to become dependable and clutch ?

[Jamadagni]

Jadeja - never rated him. Still don't rate him in LOIs, but has become very dependable in Tests. 

 

 

[tweaker]

Aji Agarkar 5 consecutive ducks to century on.Lords

[gattaca]

14 minutes ago, tweaker said:

Aji Agarkar 5 consecutive ducks to century on.Lords

But he was rated high as all rounder then became duck of Mumbai. 

[tweaker]

Debashish Mohanty.Came as surprise selection and was quite succesful for some time

 

 

[gattaca]

1 minute ago, tweaker said:

Debashish Mohanty.Came as surprise selection and was quite succesful for some time

 

 

Hardly needed English conditions.

[adi B]

Suresh Raina in Lois ,Shekhar Dhawan .

Both bang average when they started , then became solid clutch , bankable players .

 

[Mesky99]

3 hours ago, adi B said:

Suresh Raina in Lois ,Shekhar Dhawan .

Both bang average when they started , then became solid clutch , bankable players .

 

Raina was highly rated hence got his debut way back in 2005, infact he impressed from his very first few games, dhawan was average thou scored runs at the u19 he made a late entrance in that team, in his first few odis his stroke play was limited and looked out of sorts.

[Mesky99]

Probably Ashwin for me, never a big wicket taker at the first class level, did well in one ipl season, looked Just okay but 2015 onwards he turned his game around, had everything going for him, flight, drift, dip and turn, kept improving and his test numbers are incredible.

 

 

[Majestic]

Apart from Jadeja, there is a case that can be made for Gambhir and Murali Vijay too. Don't think Gambhir was rated very highly but he made a place for himself in a strong Indian batting lineup.

[rollingstoned]

4 hours ago, Majestic said:

Apart from Jadeja, there is a case that can be made for Gambhir and Murali Vijay too. Don't think Gambhir was rated very highly but he made a place for himself in a strong Indian batting lineup.

Gambhir had been scoring bucketload of runs in domestic cricket for a long time. 

[zen]

Ganguly in 1991/2 for e.g.

 

 

[vvvslaxman]

On 1/29/2023 at 1:22 AM, adi B said:

Suresh Raina in Lois ,Shekhar Dhawan .

Both bang average when they started , then became solid clutch , bankable players .

 

 

Dhawan was the highets run getter in 2004 under-19 world cup. He scored exactly 505 runs. That record stood still until Dewal Brevis scored 506 runs in 2022.  He was somewhat rated like Gill is now.

[Vickydev]

Bhajji?

Don't remember him being rated leading up to the 01 series against Australia. 

[nevada]

Ravi Shastri went from a bowler who could bat a bit to an opener who scored away test hundreds against peak WI and peak Imrand. 

 

[vvvslaxman]

On 1/27/2023 at 9:36 PM, Gollum said:

Gambhir?

 

Gambhir and Vinayak Mane were highly rated when they were young.   Vinayak Mane was student of Ramakant achrekar. His career never got started. Gambhir went on to do better things.

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-under-19s-tour-of-india-2000-01-87015/india-under-19s-vs-england-under-19s-3rd-youth-test-327530/full-scorecard

 

He topped the charts ahead of Gauti

 

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=3899;type=series

 

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by vvvslaxman

[Vilander]

Harpic kar ky aaya came in as mediocre and has become pathetic. Does that count ?

[Gollum]

On 1/29/2023 at 4:49 PM, Mesky99 said:

Probably Ashwin for me, never a big wicket taker at the first class level, did well in one ipl season, looked Just okay but 2015 onwards he turned his game around, had everything going for him, flight, drift, dip and turn, kept improving and his test numbers are incredible.

 

Ashwin was MOTS in his debut series. Then got another MOTS against NZ in the next series I think. In 2013 MOTS against Aussies. 

[rollingstoned]

16 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

Gambhir and Vinayak Mane were highly rated when they were young.   Vinayak Mane was student of Ramakant achrekar. His career never got started. Gambhir went on to do better things.

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-under-19s-tour-of-india-2000-01-87015/india-under-19s-vs-england-under-19s-3rd-youth-test-327530/full-scorecard

 

He topped the charts ahead of Gauti

 

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=3899;type=series

 

 

Now that's a name. I remember him batting quite flamboyantly against McGrath in a practice game before the first test for Mumbai against the Aussies. 

[vvvslaxman]

4 hours ago, rollingstoned said:

Now that's a name. I remember him batting quite flamboyantly against McGrath in a practice game before the first test for Mumbai against the Aussies. 

 

Dhruv Pandove was another prodigy that was identified in the early 90s.  Youngest man to cross 1000 runs in Ranji. Also made his debut at the age of 13. Made a Ranji 100 at the age of 14. Fatefully died in an accident at the age of 18.

[Sandz]

On 1/30/2023 at 7:15 PM, vvvslaxman said:

 

Dhawan was the highets run getter in 2004 under-19 world cup. He scored exactly 505 runs. That record stood still until Dewal Brevis scored 506 runs in 2022.  He was somewhat rated like Gill is now.

 

In answer to the OP, I nominate you. I remember VVS being rubbish until the Sydney century in a losing cause.