SHAHBAZ NADEEM

One of the most phenomenal spinners in Indian domestic cricket, Jharkhand’s Shahbaz Nadeem toiled hard after making his FC debut in 2004. He has 424 wickets in 110 FC matches and 145 wickets in 106 List-A matches.

He did consistently well for India A teams, but the presence of Ashwin and Jadeja in home Tests and rise of Kuldeep Yadav as the third-choice spinner meant Nadeem was left with nothing but to continue to striving hard, something he did without complaining.

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Finally, his day under the limelight came thanks to an unfortunate injury to Kuldeep Yadav on the eve of the third Test against South Africa in Ranchi. Kuldeep complained of pain in shoulder and Nadeem was called up as a backup and on the day of the match, was handed his Test cap, making him the 296^th Test cricketer from India.

This is a reward for all the hard work he has put in toiling away in Indian domestic cricket for more than a decade now and he will hope of getting more and more chances as India will play some more Tests at home.