Indian cricket has seen many fabulous cricketers playing for the country in the ODI format of the game. India has clinched the ODI World Cup for as many as two times. Some very important ODI records are against the name of the Indian batsmen.
This list some of those cricketers who have set new records in the one-day version of the game. However, they did not have the best of starts to their ODI careers. These five Indian batsmen were not even able to open their accounts on the debut but went on to score big runs for their countries. Have a look at them.
Sachin Tendulkar
Arguably the greatest batsman India has produced in the last two decades, Sachin Tendulkar played his first match against Pakistan in 1989. Unfortunately, Tendulkar had a nightmarish debut as he got out on 0 in that match. This must have come as a great lesson for the Little Master because what followed is history.
MS Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni had arrived in the team on the back of a series of good performance for India’s A side. His speedy entry, though, had to go through its first speed-breaker. The swashbuckling Dhoni could not open his account in his first ODI game of his life against Bangladesh in 2005. Today, he is hailed at one of the best finishers of the game.
Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan’s entry in the national side was very late as compared to his other contemporaries. His entry was not one to remember as well. The Delhi-lad had to walk back to the pavilion, with the score reading 0 against his name in his debut match against Australia in 2010.
VVS Laxman
VVS Laxman retired as one of the Indian batting legends. He was not seen as the best batsman in the shorter versions of the game. Although he has 6 ODI centuries and a decent average of 30 in ODIs. Laxman had a horrific start to his ODI career. He was out on 0 against a low-keyed Zimbabwe side on his debut in the year 1998.
Suresh Raina
One of the best middle-order batsmen for India, Suresh Raina was caught plump in his first ODI off the bowling of the legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Raina though left the disappointment of not performing in his debut game behind and built a sound ODI career for himself.
