Shiv Sunder Das

Universally hailed at one time as the answer to India's long search for a genuine Test opener, Shiv Sunder Das found himself in a struggle to salvage a floundering career after making a maiden hundred in his third match, against Zimbabwe.

Only the second player from Orissa to make it to the Indian Test team, Das did most things right as an opener: he had immaculate judgment of his off stump, his feet movements were precise, and he kept a still head in both defence and attack. But though he was India's first-choice opener for a while, he disappointed his backers by failing to convert numerous good starts. Both his hundreds came against Zimbabwe in Nagpur, and he was a forlorn figure during India's tour of West Indies in 2002, where he was repeatedly found stuck on the back foot, unable to judge the length against the tall West Indian fast bowlers.

On India A's tour of England, as captain for first-class matches, Das did nothing special; he averaged 43, but seven batters averaged more. Das' effort to re-establish himself had little effect on the selectors, though he did hit his maiden triple hundred in 2006-07, the first since the 2000-01 Ranji season, against Jammu & Kashmir. In 2010-11, he was stripped of his captaincy and dropped from the Orissa team after scoring just five runs from five innings.