IND vs ENG: Five players who are missing from England’s tour of India 2016-17.

International cricket in India is finally commencing from February 5th with the Test series between India and England. Both these world-class sides will finally get to lock horns against each other in a bilateral series for the first time since 2018. Now regardless of playing each other twice in the year, both these teams also have to face a strenuous year in terms of Test cricket, with England playing 17 Tests and India 14. But when it comes to their previous encounter on the Indian soil, not only we had some veterans from both sides playing, but also some young exponents exhibiting their finesse. So here’s a list of five players missing out from the previous tour.

5. Karun Nair

While the entire world had hailed Karun Nair for his zestful triple-hundred against England at Chennai, the man thereafter couldn’t clutch his place in the Test team. In his next Test series against Australia, he could only amass 54 runs from four innings. Later, when India toured England, regardless of him not playing a single game despite India’s batting woes, the right-hander looked in complete despair even in his net sessions. His IPL form in 2020 also upheld a similar story, as the Karnataka based cricketer could only manage 16 runs.

4. Haseeb Hameed

While being the youngest ever opener (19) to debut for England, the rookie created an immediate impact by scoring a fifty (82) on debut at Rajkot. Overall, in his three-Test trip, Hameed notched 219 runs at an average of 43.80. But from being termed as “Baby Boycott” as a kid by his English colleagues and by having a  prolific debut trip, both injuries along with mediocrity have daunted him. In the 2018 season, Hameed could only score 165 runs from 17 innings at a single-digit average of 9.71 and he is nowhere near making a comeback at the moment.

3. Jayant Yadav

Regardless of having a memorable debut series against England, unfortunately, the bowling all-rounder couldn’t exert himself in the national squad. Being the third-highest run-scorer in that series, Jayant amassed 221 runs at an average of 73.66 including a nifty hundred. With his primary skill, Yadav also scalped nine wickets from his three games. But by the time the series against Australia ended, he was also out of the team. However, while playing for MI in IPL 2020, the finger spinner played a handy role to make his side command a fifth IPL title.

2. Zafar Ansari

Here’s another cricketer from England’s previous trip, who has actually now moved into another profession. Before the Indian tour, Ansari had made his Test debut against Bangladesh at Dhaka. Being a cricketer who could be handy both with the bat and his left-arm orthodox spin, Ansari did look a useful proposition. But in reality, his Asian trip got transpired into mediocrity. With only three Test matches to his name, Ansari could only aggregate five wickets. Soon after his Asia trip, he announced his retirement from professional cricket in the early 2017 season.

1. Gautam Gambhir

While India did have some genuine problems at the top while partnering someone with M Vijay, what delighted fans was the comeback of veteran Gambhir. Before this series, Gambhir was recalled for opening against New Zealand and got picked for the first Test against England. It was against England back in 2014, where Gambhir had lost his Test establishment. He could only amass a score of 29 and it was the last time we saw the legend in Indian jersey. He took retirement from all forms of cricket back in 2018.