It is often said that India and it&#8217;s historic title at the 1983 Prudential World Cup could become a reality because they had a pool of all-rounders. While the towering figure called Kapil Dev led the pack, there were handy people like Mohinder Amarnath, Madan Lal, Roger Binny, Ravi Shastri, Manoj Prabhakar and more than useful tailenders like Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Chetan Sharma. The accumulation of these talents had made <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-teams/india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India</a> a top one-day international (ODI) side in the 1980s and they went on win big tournaments like the World Cup and World Championship in Cricket.

However, by 1987 when India came close to another World Cup win but lost in the semifinal at home, most of these players started hanging up their boots. Amarnath quit in 1989 and by the turn of the 1990s when Mohammad Azharuddin took over as the skipper, the glorious generation was gone excepting a few, including Kapil Dev, who was gradually approaching the twilight of their careers. And by the middle of the 1990s when the likes of Shastri, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/kapil-dev-and-vvs-laxman-mighty-impressed-with-the-under-19-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kapil</a>, and Prabhakar also quit the game, there was no replacement whatsoever for them. The result? From a balanced side with the bat and ball in the mid-1980s, India turned into a batsman-heavy team with a weak bowling department struggling to deliver, especially in foreign conditions.

However, India was so engrossed with the rise of a special talent called <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/mumbai-t20-league-is-definitely-the-beginning-of-a-beautiful-tomorrow-sachin-tendulkar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sachin Tendulkar</a> then that the crucial shortcoming in form of lack of all-rounders did not attract the same attention as it should have. The image of Prabhakar, probably India’s last genuine all-rounder, giving up pace bowling and delivering off breakers to a murderous Sanath Jayasuriya in the 1996 World Cup was a pathetic advertisement of India’s all-rounding capacity. Incidentally, it was also Prabhakar’s last outing in international cricket.

Thereafter, started India’s sordid tale of the missing all-rounders – something which cost them dearly against teams like Australia, South Africa and Pakistan that had rich reserves of all-rounders. With a weak lower middle order and tall tail, India remained over-dependent on the likes of Tendulkar (and later Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid and the Virender Sehwags, VVS Laxmans and Yuvraj Singhs even later) and had little resolve in turning around games once the cream was gone.

It was during this time – the mid and late 1990s and early 2000s – that India started believing in making all-rounders out of the existing players or hoping that they would fulfil the expectation of all-rounders by honing their batting and bowling skills and bring the much-needed flexibility in the side to compete with the best in the world. Here, we list five such players who India hoped would emerge as all-rounders but did not eventually.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2017/12/Irfan-Pathan-Batting-Baroda.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-202323" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Irfan-Pathan-Batting-Baroda.jpg" alt="Irfan Pathan Batting Baroda" width="640" height="466" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-202323" class="wp-caption-text">Irfan Pathan (Photo Source: CricTracker)</figcaption>

Stats: 1 century and 7 five-wicket hauls in Tests; 100 wickets and over 1,100 runs in Tests; 1 hat-trick in Test; highest score in ODI 83;  best ODI bowling 5 for 27

Perhaps the biggest victim of the ‘all-rounder manufacturing’ project. The bubbly left-handed bowler who had a decent batting capacity made his international debut in the 2003-04 tour of Australia and he did well to catch attention. He also took a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match against Pakistan in Pakistan in 2006.  Many had already started seeing another Kapil Dev in the making and there began the process of harming Pathan’s talent.

Though the Baroda man does not concede so, a large section believes India’s controversial coach Greg Chappell had ruined Pathan’s prospects by trying to make him a batting all-rounder by regularly promoting him up the batting order in the ODIs (487 runs in 18 matches).

The over-emphasis on batting affected Pathan’s natural swing and after he suffered injuries and lost pace, the talented player only became a shadow of his former self. Forget becoming another Kapil Dev, Pathan was done in international cricket by the time he turned the mid-20s. He played his last Test at 24 and last ODI and T20I at 28. Pathan has a century and seven five-wicket hauls – something which makes his resume as promising as that of a quality all-rounder but Pathan’s quality could never be achieved.

At 33 today, Pathan’s name is not even called at the auction of the Indian Premier League. Today, when we are putting yet another youngster Hardik Pandya under pressure by comparing him with the great Kapil Dev, we should take a pause and look back at what happened to Pathan as we tried to force things on him.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2017/04/Ajit-Agarkar.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-153778" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Ajit-Agarkar.jpg" alt="Ajit Agarkar" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-153778" class="wp-caption-text">Former Indian cricket bowler Ajit Agarkar prepares to bowl again. (Photo by Alessandro Abbonizio/AFP/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Stats: 1 century in Tests; 288 wickets and over 1,200 runs in ODIs; highest score in ODI 95;  best bowling figures in Tests 6 for 41

The Mumbai player had entered the international cricket in the late 1990s riding a major success in first-class games. He was also once the fastest bowler to reach 50 wickets till it was broken by Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis while he holds the record of slamming the fastest half-century for India (in 21 balls).

In Tests, Agarkar has the distinction of scoring a century at the Lord’s while his 6 for 41 in the historic Adelaide Test in 2003 saw India win the game and take a lead over the mighty Australians.

However, despite these feats, the slightly-built pacer with an aggressive stance could not really become another Kapil Dev because of a slide in batting form and also the tendency of getting belted because of his pace. His seven consecutive Test ducks in Australia and India between 1999 and 2001 are still seen as his fall from grace.

Agarkar’s best contribution was that he became a handy third seamer to support Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, especially in away series, but nothing more than that. Kapil remained a distant dream for this man as well.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2016/04/Laxmi-Ratan-Shukla.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-64387" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Laxmi-Ratan-Shukla.jpg" alt="Laxmi Ratan Shukla" width="640" height="538" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-64387" class="wp-caption-text">Kolkata: Cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla addresses a press conference to announce his retirement in Kolkata, on Dec 30, 2015. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Stats: Only 3 ODIs for India at the age of 19; tons of experience in both batting and bowling in domestic cricket but never got a call again

The Bengal all-rounder had got a call-up to the Indian team at 18 and his enthusiastic approach was seen by many much-required ingredients to make it big. Shukla made his debut in a tri-series featuring Pakistan and Sri Lanka at home (the phenomenal Virender Sehwag also made his debut then) and had made an impressive opening pair with Venkatesh Prasad in a game against Pakistan at Mohali.

Having made his Ranji Trophy debut in 1997-98 and gone on to play for India in 1999, the all-rounding prospect of Shukla looked promising and many even started to see shadows of the legendary Haryana Hurricane in him. But Shukla’s international career was over after just three one-day internationals (including one against the West Indies in Singapore) even though he made a strong name for himself over 16 seasons in domestic cricket.

Shukla also played nearly 50 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/category/t20/ipl-indian-premier-league/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IPL</a> games but never really had any chance to reappear in the national side. The hard-hitting lower-order batsman had also come close to his Test debut in the Asian Test Championship in Sri Lanka in 1998-99 but lost out to Ashish Nehra at the last moment.

It is a mystery as to why Shukla, despite his young age and talent, was not considered for national duty after just three ODIs especially when India was in need of genuine allrounders. Shukla quit cricket in 2015 after finding himself in and out of the Ranji Trophy and is an MLA from West Bengal now.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2017/04/Sunil-Joshi.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-169900 size-full" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Sunil-Joshi.jpg" alt="Sunil Joshi" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-169900" class="wp-caption-text">Sunil Joshi. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Stats: 1 half-century and 1 five-wicket haul in Tests; 1 fifty and 1 five-wicket haul in ODIs; highest score in Tests 92; best ODI bowling figure 5 for 6

A gentleman cricketer in all aspect, Sunil Joshi had the potential to become a spinner all-rounder for India at a time when there was none but he somehow failed to rise to the occasion. Joshi never had any charisma and neither one would say he was as gifted a talent as some of his teammates. But the left-arm spinner’s signature was his hard work and perseverance and it is unfortunate that India could not utilize his potential beyond 15 Tests and 69 ODIs.

Joshi was one of those unlucky bowlers who could not bowl in his debut Test against England in Birmingham in 1996 but he is also remembered for his magnificent contribution in the Test that India played against Bangladesh in 2000, as the latter’s first. Joshi took 8 wickets in the match including a five-for and also scored 92 in the first innings to help India win and bag the man of the match award. Had Joshi managed to score a hundred, he would have equaled a rare feat held by two of India’s finest cricketers from yesteryears – Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar.

His five for six runs in 10 overs against South Africa in Nairobi in 1999 is one of the best spells in ODIs while his gritty 48 against a formidable Australian side in the 1996 Singer World Series after India were reduced to 89 for 6 are indicators that the man had the potential to become a handy all-rounder at No.7 – often considered a premier slot for bowling all-rounders.

Joshi was not considered again for a Test match after India played Zimbabwe the same month when they played Bangladesh, which suggests that his all-around performance against the debutants was not really considered a yardstick, something the then captain Sourav Ganguly had said. The humble man, who is an inspiration to several players in his home state Karnataka, was just 30 then and it was all over for him on the international stage.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2018/02/Robin-Singh.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-226424" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Robin-Singh.jpg" alt="Robin Singh" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-226424" class="wp-caption-text">Robin Singh of India celebrates taking the catch. (Photo Source: Credit: Tom Shaw/ALLSPORT)</figcaption>

Stats: 1 century and 2 five-wicket hauls in ODIs; Over 2,000 runs in ODIs; Highest score in ODIs 100; Best bowling figure in ODIs 5 for 22

The Trinidad-born all-rounder made his return in international cricket in 1996 at the age of 33, provoking the cynics but his two wickets in two balls against Australia in Titan Cup in Mohali in 1996 to open the account impressed many. Singh gradually consolidated his position in India’s ODI team and played for five years – batting at No. 6 and bowling military medium.

Singh’s another big asset was his fielding – both ground and catching – which put him in the same brackets with the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja in those days. Singh, however, played only one Test in his career (against Zimbabwe in 1998).

Having a strange similarity with Ganguly who also came back to international cricket years after making debut against the West Indies, Robin Singh was a gritty cricketer who knew his limitations and played accordingly. India would have certainly benefited had Singh been nurtured in the late 1980s when their all-rounders’ reserve got depleted.

Seeing these past examples of disappointment, India’s current cricketing brains should take a lesson or two before start dubbing the likes of Hardik Pandya or Bhuvneshwar Kumar another Kapil Dev the moment they do something good with both bat and ball. There is no need for India to discover a clone of Kapil Dev, crushing the budding talent under a mountain of expectations and instead, focus on ways to better the youngsters in terms of talent and temperament. Most of the five abovementioned prospects were seen as an answer to Kapil Dev, which was unwise. Particularly, after the sorry outcome in the career of the immensely talented Irfan Pathan, there is a need of cautious treading in matters of wild comparisons.

It is often said that India and it’s historic title at the 1983 Prudential World Cup could become a reality because they had a pool of all-rounders. While the towering figure called Kapil Dev led the pack, there were handy people like Mohinder Amarnath, Madan Lal, Roger Binny, Ravi Shastri, Manoj Prabhakar and more than useful tailenders like Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Chetan Sharma. The accumulation of these talents had made <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-teams/india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India</a> a top one-day international (ODI) side in the 1980s and they went on win big tournaments like the World Cup and World Championship in Cricket. 
However, by 1987 when India came close to another World Cup win but lost in the semifinal at home, most of these players started hanging up their boots. Amarnath quit in 1989 and by the turn of the 1990s when Mohammad Azharuddin took over as the skipper, the glorious generation was gone excepting a few, including Kapil Dev, who was gradually approaching the twilight of their careers. And by the middle of the 1990s when the likes of Shastri, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/kapil-dev-and-vvs-laxman-mighty-impressed-with-the-under-19-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kapil</a>,&nbsp;and Prabhakar also quit the game, there was no replacement whatsoever for them. The result? From a balanced side with the bat and ball in the mid-1980s, India turned into a batsman-heavy team with a weak bowling department struggling to deliver, especially in foreign conditions. 
However, India was so engrossed with the rise of a special talent called <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/mumbai-t20-league-is-definitely-the-beginning-of-a-beautiful-tomorrow-sachin-tendulkar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sachin Tendulkar</a> then that the crucial shortcoming in form of lack of all-rounders did not attract the same attention as it should have. The image of Prabhakar, probably India’s last genuine all-rounder, giving up pace bowling and delivering off breakers to a murderous Sanath Jayasuriya in the 1996 World Cup was a pathetic advertisement of India’s all-rounding capacity. Incidentally, it was also Prabhakar’s last outing in international cricket. &nbsp;
Thereafter, started India’s sordid tale of the missing all-rounders – something which cost them dearly against teams like Australia, South Africa and Pakistan that had rich reserves of all-rounders. With a weak lower middle order and tall tail, India remained over-dependent on the likes of Tendulkar (and later Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid and the Virender Sehwags, VVS Laxmans and Yuvraj Singhs even later) and had little resolve in turning around games once the cream was gone. 
It was during this time – the mid and late 1990s and early 2000s – that India started believing in making all-rounders out of the existing players or hoping that they would fulfil the expectation of all-rounders by honing their batting and bowling skills and bring the much-needed flexibility in the side to compete with the best in the world. Here, we list five such players who India hoped would emerge as all-rounders but did not eventually. 
<h3>1. Irfan Pathan</h3>
<figure id="attachment_202323" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-202323" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2017/12/Irfan-Pathan-Batting-Baroda.jpg"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-202323" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Irfan-Pathan-Batting-Baroda.jpg" alt="Irfan Pathan Batting Baroda" width="640" height="466" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-202323" class="wp-caption-text">Irfan Pathan (Photo Source: CricTracker)</figcaption></figure>
Stats: 1 century and 7 five-wicket hauls in Tests; 100 wickets and over 1,100 runs in Tests; 1 hat-trick in Test; highest score in ODI 83; &nbsp;best ODI bowling 5 for 27
Perhaps the biggest victim of the ‘all-rounder manufacturing’ project. The bubbly left-handed bowler who had a decent batting capacity made his international debut in the 2003-04 tour of Australia and he did well to catch attention. He also took a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match against Pakistan in Pakistan in 2006.&nbsp;&nbsp;Many had already started seeing another Kapil Dev in the making and there began the process of harming Pathan’s talent. 
Though the Baroda man does not concede so, a large section believes India’s controversial coach Greg Chappell had ruined Pathan’s prospects by trying to make him a batting all-rounder by regularly promoting him up the batting order in the ODIs (487 runs in 18 matches). 
The over-emphasis on batting affected Pathan’s natural swing and after he suffered injuries and lost pace, the talented player only became a shadow of his former self. Forget becoming another Kapil Dev, Pathan was done in international cricket by the time he turned the mid-20s. He played his last Test at 24 and last ODI and T20I at 28. Pathan has a century and seven five-wicket hauls – something which makes his resume as promising as that of a quality all-rounder but Pathan’s quality could never be achieved.&nbsp;&nbsp;
At 33 today, Pathan’s name is not even called at the auction of the Indian Premier League. Today, when we are putting yet another youngster Hardik Pandya under pressure by comparing him with the great Kapil Dev, we should take a pause and look back at what happened to Pathan as we tried to force things on him. &nbsp;

<h3>2. Ajit Agarkar</h3>
<figure id="attachment_153778" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153778" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2017/04/Ajit-Agarkar.jpg"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-153778" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Ajit-Agarkar.jpg" alt="Ajit Agarkar" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-153778" class="wp-caption-text">Former Indian cricket bowler Ajit Agarkar prepares to bowl again. (Photo by Alessandro Abbonizio/AFP/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Stats: 1 century in Tests; 288 wickets and over 1,200 runs in ODIs; highest score in ODI 95; &nbsp;best bowling figures in Tests 6 for 41
The Mumbai player had entered the international cricket in the late 1990s riding a major success in first-class games. He was also once the fastest bowler to reach 50 wickets till it was broken by Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis while he holds the record of slamming the fastest half-century for India (in 21 balls). 
In Tests, Agarkar has the distinction of scoring a century at the Lord’s while his 6 for 41 in the historic Adelaide Test in 2003 saw India win the game and take a lead over the mighty Australians. 
However, despite these feats, the slightly-built pacer with an aggressive stance could not really become another Kapil Dev because of a slide in batting form and also the tendency of getting belted because of his pace. His seven consecutive Test ducks in Australia and India between 1999 and 2001 are still seen as his fall from grace. 
Agarkar’s best contribution was that he became a handy third seamer to support Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, especially in away series, but nothing more than that. Kapil remained a distant dream for this man as well.

<h3>3. Laxmi Ratan Shukla</h3>
<figure id="attachment_64387" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-64387" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2016/04/Laxmi-Ratan-Shukla.jpg"><amp-img class="wp-image-64387" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Laxmi-Ratan-Shukla.jpg" alt="Laxmi Ratan Shukla" width="640" height="538" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-64387" class="wp-caption-text">Kolkata: Cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla addresses a press conference to announce his retirement in Kolkata, on Dec 30, 2015. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
Stats: Only 3 ODIs for India at the age of 19; tons of experience in both batting and bowling in domestic cricket but never got a call again
The Bengal all-rounder had got a call-up to the Indian team at 18 and his enthusiastic approach was seen by many much-required ingredients to make it big. Shukla made his debut in a tri-series featuring Pakistan and Sri Lanka at home (the phenomenal Virender Sehwag also made his debut then) and had made an impressive opening pair with Venkatesh Prasad in a game against Pakistan at Mohali. 
Having made his Ranji Trophy debut in 1997-98 and gone on to play for India in 1999, the all-rounding prospect of Shukla looked promising and many even started to see shadows of the legendary Haryana Hurricane in him. But Shukla’s international career was over after just three one-day internationals (including one against the West Indies in Singapore) even though he made a strong name for himself over 16 seasons in domestic cricket. 
Shukla also played nearly 50 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/category/t20/ipl-indian-premier-league/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IPL</a> games but never really had any chance to reappear in the national side. The hard-hitting lower-order batsman had also come close to his Test debut in the Asian Test Championship in Sri Lanka in 1998-99 but lost out to Ashish Nehra at the last moment. 
It is a mystery as to why Shukla, despite his young age and talent, was not considered for national duty after just three ODIs especially when India was in need of genuine allrounders. Shukla quit cricket in 2015 after finding himself in and out of the Ranji Trophy and is an MLA from West Bengal now.

<h3>4. Sunil Joshi</h3>
<figure id="attachment_169900" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-169900" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2017/04/Sunil-Joshi.jpg"><amp-img class="wp-image-169900 size-full" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Sunil-Joshi.jpg" alt="Sunil Joshi" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-169900" class="wp-caption-text">Sunil Joshi. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Stats:&nbsp;1 half-century and 1 five-wicket haul in Tests; 1 fifty and 1 five-wicket haul in ODIs; highest score in Tests 92; best ODI bowling figure 5 for 6
A gentleman cricketer in all aspect, Sunil Joshi had the potential to become a spinner all-rounder for India at a time when there was none but he somehow failed to rise to the occasion. Joshi never had any charisma and neither one would say he was as gifted a talent as some of his teammates. But the left-arm spinner’s signature was his hard work and perseverance and it is unfortunate that India could not utilize his potential beyond 15 Tests and 69 ODIs. 
Joshi was one of those unlucky bowlers who could not bowl in his debut Test against England in Birmingham in 1996 but he is also remembered for his magnificent contribution in the Test that India played against Bangladesh in 2000, as the latter’s first. Joshi took 8 wickets in the match including a five-for and also scored 92 in the first innings to help India win and bag the man of the match award. Had Joshi managed to score a hundred, he would have equaled a rare feat held by two of India’s finest cricketers from yesteryears – Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar. 
His five for six runs in 10 overs against South Africa in Nairobi in 1999 is one of the best spells in ODIs while his gritty 48 against a formidable Australian side in the 1996 Singer World Series after India were reduced to 89 for 6 are indicators that the man had the potential to become a handy all-rounder at No.7 – often considered a premier slot for bowling all-rounders.
 Joshi was not considered again for a Test match after India played Zimbabwe the same month when they played Bangladesh, which suggests that his all-around performance against the debutants was not really considered a yardstick, something the then captain Sourav Ganguly had said. The humble man, who is an inspiration to several players in his home state Karnataka, was just 30 then and it was all over for him on the international stage.

<h3>5. Robin Singh</h3>
<figure id="attachment_226424" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-226424" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2018/02/Robin-Singh.jpg"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-226424" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Robin-Singh.jpg" alt="Robin Singh" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-226424" class="wp-caption-text">Robin Singh of India celebrates taking the catch. (Photo Source: Credit: Tom Shaw/ALLSPORT)</figcaption></figure>
Stats: 1 century and 2 five-wicket hauls in ODIs; Over 2,000 runs in ODIs; Highest score in ODIs 100; Best bowling figure in ODIs 5 for 22
The Trinidad-born all-rounder made his return in international cricket in 1996 at the age of 33, provoking the cynics but his two wickets in two balls against Australia in Titan Cup in Mohali in 1996 to open the account impressed many. Singh gradually consolidated his position in India’s ODI team and played for five years – batting at No. 6 and bowling military medium. 
Singh’s another big asset was his fielding – both ground and catching – which put him in the same brackets with the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja in those days. Singh, however, played only one Test in his career (against Zimbabwe in 1998). 
Having a strange similarity with Ganguly who also came back to international cricket years after making debut against the West Indies, Robin Singh was a gritty cricketer who knew his limitations and played accordingly. India would have certainly benefited had Singh been nurtured in the late 1980s when their all-rounders’ reserve got depleted.
Seeing these past examples of disappointment, India’s current cricketing brains should take a lesson or two before start dubbing the likes of Hardik Pandya or Bhuvneshwar Kumar another Kapil Dev the moment they do something good with both bat and ball. There is no need for India to discover a clone of Kapil Dev, crushing the budding talent under a mountain of expectations and instead, focus on ways to better the youngsters in terms of talent and temperament. Most of the five abovementioned prospects were seen as an answer to Kapil Dev, which was unwise. Particularly, after the sorry outcome in the career of the immensely talented Irfan Pathan, there is a need of cautious treading in matters of wild comparisons.

It is often said that India and it&#8217;s historic title at the 1983 Prudential World Cup could become a reality because they had a pool of all-rounders. While the towering figure called Kapil Dev led the pack, there were handy people like Mohinder Amarnath, Madan Lal, Roger Binny, Ravi Shastri, Manoj Prabhakar and more than useful tailenders like Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Chetan Sharma. The accumulation of these talents had made <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/cricket-teams/india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India</a> a top one-day international (ODI) side in the 1980s and they went on win big tournaments like the World Cup and World Championship in Cricket. 
However, by 1987 when India came close to another World Cup win but lost in the semifinal at home, most of these players started hanging up their boots. Amarnath quit in 1989 and by the turn of the 1990s when Mohammad Azharuddin took over as the skipper, the glorious generation was gone excepting a few, including Kapil Dev, who was gradually approaching the twilight of their careers. And by the middle of the 1990s when the likes of Shastri, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/kapil-dev-and-vvs-laxman-mighty-impressed-with-the-under-19-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kapil</a>, and Prabhakar also quit the game, there was no replacement whatsoever for them. The result? From a balanced side with the bat and ball in the mid-1980s, India turned into a batsman-heavy team with a weak bowling department struggling to deliver, especially in foreign conditions. 
However, India was so engrossed with the rise of a special talent called <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/mumbai-t20-league-is-definitely-the-beginning-of-a-beautiful-tomorrow-sachin-tendulkar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sachin Tendulkar</a> then that the crucial shortcoming in form of lack of all-rounders did not attract the same attention as it should have. The image of Prabhakar, probably India’s last genuine all-rounder, giving up pace bowling and delivering off breakers to a murderous Sanath Jayasuriya in the 1996 World Cup was a pathetic advertisement of India’s all-rounding capacity. Incidentally, it was also Prabhakar’s last outing in international cricket.  
Thereafter, started India’s sordid tale of the missing all-rounders – something which cost them dearly against teams like Australia, South Africa and Pakistan that had rich reserves of all-rounders. With a weak lower middle order and tall tail, India remained over-dependent on the likes of Tendulkar (and later Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid and the Virender Sehwags, VVS Laxmans and Yuvraj Singhs even later) and had little resolve in turning around games once the cream was gone. 
It was during this time – the mid and late 1990s and early 2000s – that India started believing in making all-rounders out of the existing players or hoping that they would fulfil the expectation of all-rounders by honing their batting and bowling skills and bring the much-needed flexibility in the side to compete with the best in the world. Here, we list five such players who India hoped would emerge as all-rounders but did not eventually. 
<h3>1. Irfan Pathan</h3>
<figure id="attachment_202323" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-202323" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2017/12/Irfan-Pathan-Batting-Baroda.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-202323" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Irfan-Pathan-Batting-Baroda.jpg" alt="Irfan Pathan Batting Baroda" width="640" height="466" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-202323" class="wp-caption-text">Irfan Pathan (Photo Source: CricTracker)</figcaption></figure>
Stats: 1 century and 7 five-wicket hauls in Tests; 100 wickets and over 1,100 runs in Tests; 1 hat-trick in Test; highest score in ODI 83;  best ODI bowling 5 for 27
Perhaps the biggest victim of the ‘all-rounder manufacturing’ project. The bubbly left-handed bowler who had a decent batting capacity made his international debut in the 2003-04 tour of Australia and he did well to catch attention. He also took a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match against Pakistan in Pakistan in 2006.  Many had already started seeing another Kapil Dev in the making and there began the process of harming Pathan’s talent. 
Though the Baroda man does not concede so, a large section believes India’s controversial coach Greg Chappell had ruined Pathan’s prospects by trying to make him a batting all-rounder by regularly promoting him up the batting order in the ODIs (487 runs in 18 matches). 
The over-emphasis on batting affected Pathan’s natural swing and after he suffered injuries and lost pace, the talented player only became a shadow of his former self. Forget becoming another Kapil Dev, Pathan was done in international cricket by the time he turned the mid-20s. He played his last Test at 24 and last ODI and T20I at 28. Pathan has a century and seven five-wicket hauls – something which makes his resume as promising as that of a quality all-rounder but Pathan’s quality could never be achieved.  
At 33 today, Pathan’s name is not even called at the auction of the Indian Premier League. Today, when we are putting yet another youngster Hardik Pandya under pressure by comparing him with the great Kapil Dev, we should take a pause and look back at what happened to Pathan as we tried to force things on him.  

<h3>2. Ajit Agarkar</h3>
<figure id="attachment_153778" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153778" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2017/04/Ajit-Agarkar.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-153778" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Ajit-Agarkar.jpg" alt="Ajit Agarkar" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-153778" class="wp-caption-text">Former Indian cricket bowler Ajit Agarkar prepares to bowl again. (Photo by Alessandro Abbonizio/AFP/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Stats: 1 century in Tests; 288 wickets and over 1,200 runs in ODIs; highest score in ODI 95;  best bowling figures in Tests 6 for 41
The Mumbai player had entered the international cricket in the late 1990s riding a major success in first-class games. He was also once the fastest bowler to reach 50 wickets till it was broken by Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis while he holds the record of slamming the fastest half-century for India (in 21 balls). 
In Tests, Agarkar has the distinction of scoring a century at the Lord’s while his 6 for 41 in the historic Adelaide Test in 2003 saw India win the game and take a lead over the mighty Australians. 
However, despite these feats, the slightly-built pacer with an aggressive stance could not really become another Kapil Dev because of a slide in batting form and also the tendency of getting belted because of his pace. His seven consecutive Test ducks in Australia and India between 1999 and 2001 are still seen as his fall from grace. 
Agarkar’s best contribution was that he became a handy third seamer to support Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, especially in away series, but nothing more than that. Kapil remained a distant dream for this man as well.

<h3>3. Laxmi Ratan Shukla</h3>
<figure id="attachment_64387" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-64387" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2016/04/Laxmi-Ratan-Shukla.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-64387" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Laxmi-Ratan-Shukla.jpg" alt="Laxmi Ratan Shukla" width="640" height="538" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-64387" class="wp-caption-text">Kolkata: Cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla addresses a press conference to announce his retirement in Kolkata, on Dec 30, 2015. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
Stats: Only 3 ODIs for India at the age of 19; tons of experience in both batting and bowling in domestic cricket but never got a call again
The Bengal all-rounder had got a call-up to the Indian team at 18 and his enthusiastic approach was seen by many much-required ingredients to make it big. Shukla made his debut in a tri-series featuring Pakistan and Sri Lanka at home (the phenomenal Virender Sehwag also made his debut then) and had made an impressive opening pair with Venkatesh Prasad in a game against Pakistan at Mohali. 
Having made his Ranji Trophy debut in 1997-98 and gone on to play for India in 1999, the all-rounding prospect of Shukla looked promising and many even started to see shadows of the legendary Haryana Hurricane in him. But Shukla’s international career was over after just three one-day internationals (including one against the West Indies in Singapore) even though he made a strong name for himself over 16 seasons in domestic cricket. 
Shukla also played nearly 50 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/category/t20/ipl-indian-premier-league/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IPL</a> games but never really had any chance to reappear in the national side. The hard-hitting lower-order batsman had also come close to his Test debut in the Asian Test Championship in Sri Lanka in 1998-99 but lost out to Ashish Nehra at the last moment. 
It is a mystery as to why Shukla, despite his young age and talent, was not considered for national duty after just three ODIs especially when India was in need of genuine allrounders. Shukla quit cricket in 2015 after finding himself in and out of the Ranji Trophy and is an MLA from West Bengal now.

<h3>4. Sunil Joshi</h3>
<figure id="attachment_169900" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-169900" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2017/04/Sunil-Joshi.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-169900 size-full" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Sunil-Joshi.jpg" alt="Sunil Joshi" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-169900" class="wp-caption-text">Sunil Joshi. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Stats: 1 half-century and 1 five-wicket haul in Tests; 1 fifty and 1 five-wicket haul in ODIs; highest score in Tests 92; best ODI bowling figure 5 for 6
A gentleman cricketer in all aspect, Sunil Joshi had the potential to become a spinner all-rounder for India at a time when there was none but he somehow failed to rise to the occasion. Joshi never had any charisma and neither one would say he was as gifted a talent as some of his teammates. But the left-arm spinner’s signature was his hard work and perseverance and it is unfortunate that India could not utilize his potential beyond 15 Tests and 69 ODIs. 
Joshi was one of those unlucky bowlers who could not bowl in his debut Test against England in Birmingham in 1996 but he is also remembered for his magnificent contribution in the Test that India played against Bangladesh in 2000, as the latter’s first. Joshi took 8 wickets in the match including a five-for and also scored 92 in the first innings to help India win and bag the man of the match award. Had Joshi managed to score a hundred, he would have equaled a rare feat held by two of India’s finest cricketers from yesteryears – Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar. 
His five for six runs in 10 overs against South Africa in Nairobi in 1999 is one of the best spells in ODIs while his gritty 48 against a formidable Australian side in the 1996 Singer World Series after India were reduced to 89 for 6 are indicators that the man had the potential to become a handy all-rounder at No.7 – often considered a premier slot for bowling all-rounders.
 Joshi was not considered again for a Test match after India played Zimbabwe the same month when they played Bangladesh, which suggests that his all-around performance against the debutants was not really considered a yardstick, something the then captain Sourav Ganguly had said. The humble man, who is an inspiration to several players in his home state Karnataka, was just 30 then and it was all over for him on the international stage.

<h3>5. Robin Singh</h3>
<figure id="attachment_226424" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-226424" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2018/02/Robin-Singh.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-226424" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Robin-Singh.jpg" alt="Robin Singh" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-226424" class="wp-caption-text">Robin Singh of India celebrates taking the catch. (Photo Source: Credit: Tom Shaw/ALLSPORT)</figcaption></figure>
Stats: 1 century and 2 five-wicket hauls in ODIs; Over 2,000 runs in ODIs; Highest score in ODIs 100; Best bowling figure in ODIs 5 for 22
The Trinidad-born all-rounder made his return in international cricket in 1996 at the age of 33, provoking the cynics but his two wickets in two balls against Australia in Titan Cup in Mohali in 1996 to open the account impressed many. Singh gradually consolidated his position in India’s ODI team and played for five years – batting at No. 6 and bowling military medium. 
Singh’s another big asset was his fielding – both ground and catching – which put him in the same brackets with the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja in those days. Singh, however, played only one Test in his career (against Zimbabwe in 1998). 
Having a strange similarity with Ganguly who also came back to international cricket years after making debut against the West Indies, Robin Singh was a gritty cricketer who knew his limitations and played accordingly. India would have certainly benefited had Singh been nurtured in the late 1980s when their all-rounders’ reserve got depleted.
Seeing these past examples of disappointment, India’s current cricketing brains should take a lesson or two before start dubbing the likes of Hardik Pandya or Bhuvneshwar Kumar another Kapil Dev the moment they do something good with both bat and ball. There is no need for India to discover a clone of Kapil Dev, crushing the budding talent under a mountain of expectations and instead, focus on ways to better the youngsters in terms of talent and temperament. Most of the five abovementioned prospects were seen as an answer to Kapil Dev, which was unwise. Particularly, after the sorry outcome in the career of the immensely talented Irfan Pathan, there is a need of cautious treading in matters of wild comparisons.

We take a look at a few Indian all-rounders who didn't really make it big in the international stage.

The Kapil Dev Problem for India: 5 all-rounders who perished without ‘fulfilling’ the promise

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