In this article, we are talking about the top five Indian cricketers who have disappeared from the spotlight at present. 

Yuzvendra Chahal

The 34-year-old leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is the present leading T20I wicket-taker for India (96 wickets) as well as the leading IPL wicket-taker (205 wickets) and leading T20 wicket-taker as an Indian (364 wickets). He is also India’s second-fastest spinner to complete 100 ODI wickets, as he has taken 121 wickets in 72 ODIs. While Chahal has played for India in only ODI and T20I formats, his last matches in these formats were in January 2023 and August 2023, respectively. Although he was a member of the Indian team that won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, he wasn’t selected in the playing XIs. Despite his strong stats, Chahal’s position in the Indian squad is slowly moving away. Meanwhile, he shined in the recent English County season but has struggled in Indian domestic cricket. It is important to see whether he can be called up to the national team in the upcoming assignments, at least for the replacements. 

See Also: Rishabh Pant: Credits for Rohit Sharma for Shaping His Leadership

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The 34-year-old right-arm medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is known for his incredible swing-bowling abilities, as he can swing the ball effectively in both ways. After his international cricket debut in December 2012, he was a dependable bowler with new balls in every format. He also developed his skills in the slog overs, and he has never stopped dominating with the new balls. Kumar played his last Test in January 2018, his last ODI in January 2022, and his last T20I in November 2022. 

Despite being the leading T20I wicket-taker for India during his last international match with 90 wickets in 87 matches, who also took 63 Test wickets and 141 ODI wickets, Kumar has been far from the spotlight since 2023. Although we still experience his abilities in the IPL, he isn’t close enough for his international comeback despite recently recording his T20 hat-trick in a domestic match. 

Ishant Sharma

The 36-year-old tall Indian right-arm fast bowler Ishant Sharma is still active in domestic cricket. He has produced many great memories for India in Test and ODI formats. He was one of the most dependable bowlers in the overseas venues. While he was the fifth-youngest bowler to complete 100 Test wickets, he has taken 311 wickets in 105 Tests and 115 wickets in 80 ODIs. Among the regular pacers, only Kapil Dev and Ishant Sharma have recorded 100 Tests for India. As time progresses, the new generation of Indian pacers is evolving, and Ishant is slowly becoming the past of Indian cricket. While he played his last white-ball match for India in January 2016, Ishant stretched his Test career to January 2021. 

Hanuma Vihari

The 31-year-old Hanuma Vihari has played only 16 Tests for India between September 2018 and July 2022. Despite serving the national team for a very short time, the right-handed batter put a special mark by scoring 839 Test runs in 28 innings with an average of 33.56, including one century and five half-centuries. Majorly effective batter in the middle order, the right-arm off-spinner has also taken five Test wickets. The right-handed batter is known for his patience and controlled batting and was a key member of India’s historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy victories in Australia in the 2018-19 season and 2020-21 seasons. During the 2021 Sydney Test, Vihari had an important role in drawing the Test with his 23 not out off 161 balls. Despite his hamstring injury just before the tea of the final day, he safely guided the visitors to the draw with another fighter, Ravichandran Ashwin (39 not out off 128 balls).

Recently, Vihari changed his domestic teams between Hyderabad and Andhra multiple times, where he was also in some controversies. His present season isn’t going well, and he is facing massive competition in the Indian team.

T Natarajan

The 33-year-old left-arm medium-pacer T Natarajan created history during India's tour of Australia in 2020-21, where he made his debut in all formats of international cricket and became the first Indian to debut in all international cricket formats on the same tour. He last played for India in March 2021. The left-arm pacer has taken seven wickets in four T20Is, three wickets in two ODIs, and three wickets in only one Test. Injuries and challenging competitions have affected his growth in international cricket.

Veteran India batter Hanuma Vihari has refuted the Andhra Cricket Association’s (ACA) claims that he hadn’t replied to a show-cause notice issued to him. However, Vihari had slammed during the 2023-24 Ranji season about political interference costing him his captaincy and that “he would never play for Andhra again” as well.

Notably, on March 25, the ACA had sent a notice to Vihari over email, calling for an explanation of his comments as well. In his response, seen by ESPNcricinfo, Vihari shared he had “put out the facts” about the “unfair” treatment towards him.

Hanuma Vihari opened up on the “unfair” treatment towards him

“I want to move out and play for another team. I’ve asked ACA for a no-objection certificate. I’m awaiting a response,” Vihari told ESPNcricinfo.

However, on Thursday afternoon, PTI reported that the ACA has served the notice, roughly a month after the veteran batter raised objections at the way he was ousted as Andhra captain and that he hadn’t responded as well.

ALSO READ: Zaheer Khan shares MS Dhoni’s plans after IPL 2024

“Yes, we have served him a show-cause notice and we are awaiting his reply,” an ACA official told PTI on condition of anonymity. “This is just to find what made him react the way he did last month. He has not reached out to us, so this is a chance for him to come out with his grievances. After all, we value Vihari and his contributions to the growth of state cricket as he has played a big part in Andhra going up in the ranks in domestic cricket.”

On February 26, Hanuma Vihari said he would “never play for Andhra” again, claiming the treatment he had received at the hands of the ACA during the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy was humiliating for him. He shared not long after Andhra had lost their quarter-final against Madhya Pradesh by just four runs as well.

In an Instagram post, Hanuma Vihari alleged that he was forced to step down from the leadership role following Andhra’s opening-round game against Bengal in January. At the time, he had said “personal reasons” for the decision, but later on Saturday revealed that the truth was that the association had taken “action” against him because of political interference as well.

Hanuma Vihari was a key player for India in the longer format

“I was captain in the first game against Bengal, and during the game, I shouted at 17th player, and he complained to his dad (who is a politician),” Vihari wrote. “His dad in return asked the association to take action against me. Although we chased 410 against last year’s finalists Bengal [for a first-innings lead], I was asked to resign from captaincy without any fault of mine.”

“I never said anything on a personal note to the player, but the association thought the player was more important than the guy who gave his body on the line last year and batted left-handed, took Andhra to the knockouts five times in the last seven years and played for India in 16 Tests,” he again added.

The ACA issued a statement later on the same day, saying, “It has come to our attention that Mr Vihari personally verbally abused a specific player during the Bengal Ranji game in front of everyone. The affected player filed an official complaint with the ACA.”

Andra Ranji cricket team threw their support behind Hanuma Vihari after he was stripped of the captaincy by the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) during the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.

Vihari’s revelation came in the aftermath of Andhra’s narrow defeat to Madhya Pradesh by five runs in the quarter-finals of the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy season at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Monday. Vihari took to social media to share a post where the entire team rallied behind him, urging the cricket board to reinstate him as captain. Here is the post:

“This is regarding the recent issue involving HANUMA VIHARI. A complaint was lodged by a fellow teammate in the Ranji squad alleging that Vihari had used offensive language and approached him aggressively. However, the truth is that there was no aggressive approach, and such language is commonplace in our team environment, aimed at pushing each other to perform better. Unfortunately, one member took it personally,” the social media post stated.

“All team players, along with the support staff, can attest to this. We firmly stand behind Vihari and wish for him to continue as our captain. We have no grievances against him; he has consistently brought out the best in us. Under his leadership, our team has consistently performed well and has qualified for the playoffs more than seven times. This Ranji season holds immense significance for us, and we have prepared diligently for it. As members of the Andhra Ranji team, we wholeheartedly support Vihari to lead us,” the post continued.

SEE ALSO: Hanuma Vihari not interested to play for Andhra anymore! Here’s why

Response and Clarification: The Controversy Unraveled

Vihari disclosed that he was asked to step down from captaincy following Andhra’s opening game against Bengal after an incident where he reprimanded the 17th player in the team, who happened to be a politician’s son.

Responding to the situation on Instagram, the player in question, wicketkeeper-batter KN Prudhviraj, who is yet to make his first-class debut, stated, “Hello everyone, I am the individual referenced in the comments. Whatever rumors you’ve heard are entirely false; no one is above the game, and my self-respect is paramount.”

“Personal attacks and vulgar language are intolerable in any setting. Everyone within the team is aware of what transpired that day. This is the extent of my response. Play these sympathy games however you wish,” he concluded.