Top 7 Unluckiest cricket players in the world

Not all cricketers often go the long way despite having obvious talent at their side and with it, the willingness to succeed and compete at the highest echelons of the game. If you look at how some cricketers have simply withered away from the international circuit, then you'd find their journeys to be quite perplexing where despite being armed with oodles of talent, they simply couldn't march on ahead.

There have been several names who've risen to the forefront of national duties for several of the world's greatest cricket playing nations and yet, somehow withered away. So what happened to their game or themselves, if at all that's the concern. And what could one call them?

Is unlucky the right word to describe them? Maybe, yes. And if so, who are these names:

Top 7 Unluckiest cricket players in the world

Adam Voges

Even if you scroll past Adam Voges Test batting average today, you'd be shocked, not surprised. He averaged 61 at the time playing his final Test match, which one suspects offered a glimpse at a career that really should have gone a lot longer. A batting sensation, the right hander amassed 5 Test centuries during a 20-match stay for Australia before his career came to stop when he was just 15-run shy from scoring 1500 runs from just 31 innings.

It's incredible to think that Voges, who's still an enigma as per many in Australia and around, played Test cricket for not even 2 full years, besides 31 one day internationals in which his credentials were nearly just as good.

He ended 130 run shy of scoring 1000 one day international runs and scored a century and 4 fifties from just 31 outings in gold yellow Aussie clothing.

It could be argued that since Australia have always produced considerably talented players one after another, Voges was part of a selection strategy that maybe wanted to have a keener look at other players evolving at the time.

And that makes more sense the moment you realise that by the time the blazing batter from Perth arrived into Australian national cricket set up, he was already 35. It's so hard to breakthrough into the Australian cricket contingent, isn't it?

Parthiv Patel

For someone who was a technically correct batter and one with good keeping skills, Parthiv Patel, once widely known as baby-faced, was a useful addition to the Indian team in 2000s. But while he played 25 Test matches and 38 one dayers for India, he didn't really take his career the long distance, arguably also because he played in the same era as the great MS Dhoni.

Munaf Patel

While not an overly tall, the strongly built fast bowler, who still has the record for the best bowling spell by a debutant in Tests, 7 for 97, Munaf Patel was a handy addition to India's mid 2000 team and even made it to the world cup held that particular year, a glorious win for the country.

But he failed to find the rhyhm and the consistency that he had brought to the fore once coming back from a slew of injuries and was never the same again. One shouldn't forget that Munaf was part of the team in the 2011 world cup as the third seamer only because of the injury sustained by Praveen Kumar.

Sanjay Manjrekar 

Sanjay Manjrekar, back in the nineties, was a gifted and capable batter known for his technical correctness and aptitude in the middle. It should not be forgotten that the famous commentator, often trolled in today's times, is the scorer of 4 Test hundreds from 37 games. But it could be said, he never quite evolved himself into the role of the opener, which was part of his renewed efforts back in the era to become a recurring feature in the team. Moreover, a certain Sourav Ganguly was rising through the ranks back then and did ultimately go on to become a hero for the country. And ditto for Dravid, the former captain and coach, who back then arose during the same period as the Prince of Calcutta.

James Faulkner

Even today, it's a bit of a shame to think just how come Jimmy Faulkner's career didn't go that far long that maybe he himself would have expected. Was it because there were many talented all rounders emerging at the time and that thanks to Australia's fascinating talent of producing a great amount of shiny talents one after the other, Faulkner's journey was cut short? There were and will still be multiple views to that end.

However, the incredibly exciting all rounder, who was once upon a time, the best Tasmanian player during this side's greatest domestic season, could only come to play for his country for 1 test, 69 one dayers and 24 T20I's, from which he amassed 138 wickets along with almost 1200 runs while wearing the bright Aussie gold yellows.

He is still remembered for his commanding counter-attacking 116 that came off just 73 odd deliveries but in a game where Rohit Gurunath Sharma lorded over Australia thanks to a sensational double century.

But Jimmy Faulner, who was also once upon a time a key part of the Rajasthan Royals, certainly didn't go a long way as an Australian cricketer, perhaps being part of a set up that doesn't tolerate even occasional off days in the middle for the country.

Other than that, one can only call him unlucky?

Mark Boucher

A terrific cricketer, someone with lots of courage and might and the passion for South Africa, Mark Boucher was a great wicketkeeper and with it, a compact batsman known for his persistence in the middle. Over the course of his career, which culminated in 147 Tests and 295 one dayers, he affected 935 international dismisals, besides scoring 10,000 plus international runs. However, in what became an unusual twist of fate, Boucher, whilst keeping for the Proteas in a Test at England, got hit by a bail that made contact right into his eye. The left eye required an immediate surgery, post which he had to retire. The sad bit being that he was keeping in a tour game whilst in England.

Shane Dowrich

From the onset of 2015 and 2020, Dowrich, a committed Barbados cricketer, formed a key fixture of the West Indies test team. His agile keeping affected 85 Test match catches in his Windies career and the right handed batte also struck 3 Test match centuries.

What struck most about this quiet cricketer was his ability to read spin whilst behind the stumps and thus bat well against spinners as well. He's still most known for his incredibly dogged 125 not out against Sri Lanka when they visited the Caribbean. And a year later, he made a sparkling unbeaten 116 against England, when the Windies thrashed the visitors at their fortess, Barbados. 

However, what stood out for the batter-keeper who also made a vital 70 upon Test debut, at home in the Caribbean against Australia is the very fact that in the 2019 Test win that Windies achieved by a prolific margin of 381 runs, he held a great 295-run-stand with then-captain, Jason Holder.

However, indifferent and often times complex selection policies led to Dowrich fading away when such a talent should definitely have achieved a lot more than just playing for 35 Test matches.

However, many would also argue that at around the same time Joshua Da Silva was rising for the country and today, finds no place in the Test set up. Somethings that only the West Indies cricket can provide answers for.