Martin Guptill. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, hence there have been a lot of cricket players on the pitch. In sports, particularly cricket, players’ careers can be cut short. Furthermore, not every player is entitled to be referred to as the greatest or best in the business.
Many cricketers have done their duties in the most effective manner possible over the years. However, they have been largely eclipsed by superstars on their respective teams. These performers focus on their tasks, provide the goods, and then exit the stage without seeking much attention.
With that in mind, let’s discuss about five of the most underrated and underappreciated cricketers in international cricket.
Here are 5 most underrated international cricketers:
5. Martin Guptill
Martin-Guptill. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Martin Guptill had a very long career for New Zealand from 2009 and his last game for Kiwis came in 2022. Though he has not officially retired, Guptill has become a free agent, refusing a central contract with NZC. He appeared in 47 Tests, 198 ODIs, and 122 T20Is and was one of the most devastating openers of his time.
Guptill’s glory moment was in the 2015 World Cup when he smacked 237*, the highest individual score in World Cup history. However, despite his 2586 Test runs, 7346 ODI runs, and 3531 T20I runs, Guptill’s batting has always been overshadowed by the likes of Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, and Kane Williamson. Even Jesse Ryder overshadowed Guptill for a short period.
4. Ajit Agarkar
Ajith Agarkar. (Photo Source: Patrick Eagar/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Ajit Agarkar was once the fastest Indian bowler to 50 ODI wickets and has a Test century at Lord’s Ground. He also holds the record for the fastest ODI fifty by an Indian in 21 balls and finished his career with 58 Test and 288 ODI wickets. Agarkar had also taken a wicket of his first ball ever in T20Is, in the first 20-over international India had played in 2006.
Making his debut in 1998, Agarkar mostly played second fiddle, first to Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad and then to Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. He is often considered one of the heirs to Kapil Dev as an all-rounder, but Agarkar failed to come true to those expectations. His career faded in the late 2000s, with his final match for India coming in 2007.
3. Younis Khan
Younis Khan. (Photo Source: Twitter/@SkyCricket)
Younis Khan had made his Pakistan debut in 2003 and was their pillar in times of distress. While the likes of Inzamam Ul Haq, Shahid Afridi, Misbah Ul Haq, and others gathered the limelight, Younis unassumingly carried his job. He was a perfect team man, ready to do whatever his team wanted him to do. He preferred to do his job silently, while cricketers and batters with more flair hogged the headlines.
He captained the side to the 2009 T20 World Cup win. He was not the most aesthetically pleasing of batters, but when Pakistan needed someone to tough it out in the middle, Younis was the man to step up. The right-hander from Mardan retired in 2017 with over 10,000 runs in 118 Tests and more than 7200 runs in 265 ODIs. He also hit a triple century in Tests and finished with an average of 52.05.
2. Damien Martyn
Damien martyn (Photo Source: Twitter)
Damien Martyn was an old-school batter who had risen in the ranks in Australian cricket after toughening it out in school, grade, and club cricket. He had a natural gift of making batting look extremely easy and his modern equivalent is Rohit Sharma, who had ample time to play his shots.
Martyn boasted of all the shots in his armoury. His 88-run knock in the 2003 World Cup final was one of the highlights of his career, which incidentally came with a broken finger. In 13 months, Martyn accumulated 1608 Test runs at an average of 61. But he was always overshadowed by Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, and others. Damien Martyn ended his international career with a Test average of 46.37 and an ODI average of 40.8 but didn’t reach superstar status.
1. Rangana Herath
Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Rangana Herath, a left-arm spinner, in his early years, was seen as a support act to Muralitharan. Most of the time during that period, his role was to bowl long spells block the runs, and build pressure on the batters, allowing Murali to work his magic from the other end. But once the magician called time on his career in 2008 in Tests, Herath emerged as the saviour.
Herath relied on his accuracy and ability to bowl long spells to help his team win games. He demonstrated his abilities not only in Asian conditions but also in international pitches. His moment in the limelight was his 9/128 in an innings against South Africa in 2011-12. He also took 5/3 against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup game in 2014.