Five Indian cricketers who fought through bad form and made an emphatic comeback in international cricket

Cricketers work hard all their lives to live their dream of playing at the international level. They give their everything on the field to reach perfection which helps them to cope with the challenges of International cricket. However, despite their tremendous ability, players lose their form and go through gloomy phases in their careers. It’s in these moments that a true character of a sportsperson is tested.

On that note, let’s take a look at some players who had it in them to come out of the dark alleys of their careers and make a roaring comeback to international cricket:

1. Sachin Tendulkar: 

Sachin Tendulkar: (Image Source: Twitter)

After India’s first stage exit from the 2007 ODI world cup, Sachin Tendulkar was contemplating retirement. Tendulkar had been going through the worst phase of his career, marred by injuries, poor form and a horrific dressing room environment. It needed a herculean effort from the ‘Master Blaster’ to come out of this misery.

And what followed after was another golden period of Tendulkar’s career. The phase from 2008-2011 saw Tendulkar become an absolute beast as he plundered runs all around the world irrespective of the format. He surpassed Brian Lara to become the leading run-scorer in the history of Test Cricket.

He also etched his name forever in the history books as he became the first male cricketer to score a double hundred in ODI cricket. Tendulkar’s good form continued in the Indian T20 League as well as he became the first Indian to win the Orange Cap for being the highest run scorer in the 2010 edition.

Tendulkar took full advantage of being at the peak of his powers and finished as the second highest run-getter in the 2011 ODI World Cup and helped his team to clinch the title after 28 years. Tendulkar’s comeback is a testament to the phrase “form is temporary, class is permanent.”

2. Yuvraj Singh 

Yuvraj Singh: (Image Source: Twitter)

Yuvraj Singh was in the form of his life during the 2007-2009 phase of his career. The star player was scoring runs for fun and had become the backbone of the team with his marvellous performances. However, his golden period came to an end in 2010 when he looked like a pale shadow of his former self. Yuvraj struggled to score runs across formats and there were widespread talks of dropping him from the team.

Yuvraj smacked the forgettable phase of his life in the same manner as he smacked several deliveries in his career. He staged a comeback for the ages and shined at the biggest stage in cricket, the ‘2011 ODI World Cup’. Yuvraj did everything he could on the field, from scoring runs to picking wickets and helped his team to be crowned world champions after 28 years.

The all-rounder was awarded the prestigious ‘Player of the Tournament’ award for his stupendous performance. Later on, it was revealed that Yuvraj Singh had been suffering from cancer during the entire world cup which made this performance even more incredible.

3. Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli: (Image Source: Twitter)

Virat Kohli emerged as an immensely talented youngster in 2008. Right from his debut he took giant strides in international cricket and won the prestigious ‘ODI cricketer of the year’ award in 2012. Having made a mark in ODI cricket, it was now time for Virat to shine in Test Cricket. The England tour of 2014 was the perfect platform for the youngster to stamp his authority in the most respected format of the game.

However, the star batter failed to perform on the big stage and had a forgettable tour where he managed to score only 136 runs in 10 innings. Kohli received a lot of flak for his dismal performance and talks of his removal from the Test team were all over.

Kohli shut all his critics within just four months as he clobbered four hundreds in four Tests in Australia later that year. The modern great smashed the intimidating Mitchell Johnson all around the park and hurt his ego big time. This performance of Kohli ignited a fire inside him that led him to perform like a beast over the next five years in international cricket.

4. Rohit Sharma:

Rohit Sharma: (Image Source: Twitter)

Rohit Sharma was touted as the most talented batter in the Indian team. He had already shown the world his tremendous ability with the bat in the limited overs formats but couldn’t emulate the same in Test cricket. After his repeated failures he was finally shown the way out from the Test team in 2018. It looked like Rohit’s Test career had reached the end of the road.

It’s said that the brightest days come after the darkest nights and the saying holds true in the case of Rohit’s career. The current Indian captain was recalled into the squad as an opener in the Test team and straight away announced his arrival with a scintillating hundred in the first match. In no time, Rohit made adjustments to his technique and became a reliable opener for the team not only in the subcontinent but overseas as well. He notched up his first overseas Test hundred against England at the Oval and revived his Test career.

5. Bhuvneshwar Kumar:

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: (Image Source: Twitter)

Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a terrific entry into international cricket as he picked up three wickets against Pakistan in his first-ever T20I. He made his ODI debut a few days later and picked up the wicket of the very first ball in the format.

After having great success for a number of years, Bhuvneshwar’s career hit a new low in 2021. He had a forgettable season in the Indian T20 League and failed to fire in the 20-20 world cup as well. Once regarded as a wicket-taking option, Bhuvneshwar was struggling to keep his place in the team.

However, the year 2022 brought a change of fortunes for the swing bowler as he found his mojo back. He, once again, began to deceive the batters using the numerous variations in his repertoire. He was the highest wicket-taker in the T20I series against South Africa in June.  Recently, the swing maestro sent Pakistan captain Babar Azam back to the pavilion and set up a memorable win for his team in the second match of the Asia Cup 2022.

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