Elite cricket players like MS Dhoni are celebrated for the rare feats they achieved. They are glorified in society with their faces covering the biggest magazines and the most royal seats reserved for them in events.
Yes, they deserve this reverence for how merrily their cricket conquests entertained us on the pitch. Even more, these cricket celebrities deserve the glamor they got for how rich they got punters staking on cricket fixtures on top bookmaker apps like Indibet (notably, the Indibet mobile application is widely used by cricket enthusiasts for betting on their favorite teams).
But there is an unfortunate crop of cricket players who were incredibly talented but didn’t get the hype and media coverage they arguably deserved.
These underrated cricket players are wrongly placed among “modest” cricket players when they deserve top spots in the cricket world.
This article exposes six of the most underrated cricket players ever.
1. Younis Khan
Younis Khan achieved immense success in his professional Cricket career, but he barely gets the respect he deserves. His stats clearly show that he’s one of the greatest Pakistanis to have ever played the game.
Younis began his professional career at the Australian side, Southern Redbacks, in 2009. He played county Cricket in England for teams like Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Younis also played for teams like Rajasthan Royals of the Indian Premier League.
He remains the only player to have scored a century in all the 11 countries to have hosted test matches. Younis is the captain of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 winning squad and has scored over 10,000 runs in Test Cricket.
He appeared in 118 Tests, 265 ODIs, 25 T20Is, and 229 First Class matches. Younis is the Pakistani with the most runs and centuries scored in Tests.
2. Shivnarraine Chanderpaul
Shivnarraine Chanderpaul is a former West Indie batsman and captain. He faced injuries and criticism in his early career. However, he overcame them to become one of the greatest West Indies players.
His fans and country enjoyed him at his peak but turned their backs during his last years as a Cricket player.
In an international career spanning 21 years, he scored over 20,000 runs in Tests, ODIs, and T20s. He’s 8th on the list of Test’s highest scorers with 11,000 runs.
The West Indies dropped him from the squad in 2014 without a proper farewell to one of its biggest legends.
He’s the current coach of the USA senior women’s team. The ICC inducted him into its all of fame in 2022 to recognize his achievements.
3. Rangana Herath
Ranagna Herath was nothing short of a legend and deserved a befitting spot among Cricket ever players. He played in the same team as Muttiah Muralitharan, making many people underrate him.
Ranagna Herath is arguably the best off-spinner in Cricket’s history and has 433 in Tests, the most by a left-arm spinner. He’s the first left-arm spin bowler and the second Sri Lankan bowler to take 400 wickets.
His 29 years playing internationally for Sri Lanka puts him as the longest-serving player for his country. He appeared in 93 Tests, 71 ODIs, and 12 T20Is.
4. Chaminda Vas
Chaminda Vas is a fast-medium bowler from Sri Lanka. Despite his fantastic qualities, he played in the era of Pakistani maestro; Muttiah Muralitharan, which overshadowed his qualities.
However, he’s one of the best fast-medium bowlers during his playing days.
He’s the most successful pace bowler from Sri Lanka and has scored 355 wickets in 111 test matches. Chaminda Vas is only second behind Muralithran on the list of Sri Lankan Cricket players with the most wickets in ODIs.
His 8 for 19 off eight overs against Zimbabwe in 2001 holds the record for the best bowling performance in ODI.
Chaminda Vas is one of the only four players to have scored four ODI hat tricks in their career. He entered coaching after concluding his over 15-year playing career, at teams like New Zealand and England, among others.
5. Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan debuted internationally as a talented 19-year-old, and many Indians considered him the future of Cricket in the country.
He was impressive at the start of his international career, but he was axed from the squad due to poor form in 2006. Nonetheless, his achievements in his nine-year international career should get more recognition than it does.
Irfan Pathan performed impressively well in bowling and batting during his peak. He’s the first and only bowler to take a hat trick in the first over of a test match.
Irfan was among the Indian team that won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 and the ICC Champions Cup in 2013. He played 29 tests, 120 ODIs, 24 T20s, and 133 First Class Cricket.
6. Mohammed Yousuf
Muhammed Yousuf was the fourth Cristian to play for Pakistan and the only one to captain the team. He barely gets the respect that he deserves for his outstanding career.
The Pakistani Cricket Board even banned him from playing for the National Team in 2010.
He’s the man that has scored the most test runs in a calendar year, with 1,788 in 2006. Yousuf is third on the list of Pakistani players with the most runs in ODIs.
He’s only the third Pakistani batsman to score more than 6,000 runs in Test.
Yousuf appeared in 90 Tests, 288 ODIs, 234 First Class, and 325 List A Cricket matches.
To conclude, cricket has been around for a long time, and many players have contributed immensely to the growth of the game we love. While some of these legends get celebrated for life, others barely get the respect they deserve.
These players are one of Cricket’s most underrated players of all time.
