There was a phase when I was really disappointed to not get selected for India, reveals Amol Muzumdar
Mumbai stalwart Amol Muzumdar, who ended his career with no international caps, revealed that he felt extremely disappointed at one stage after not making it to the national team despite averaging over 80 in Ranji Trophy. Muzumdar eventually finished his career with 11,167 first-class runs.
The mid and the late 90s saw a plethora of world-class batsmen make their debut for India, including the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, who then went on to become cricketing greats. However, a person who unfortunately and tragically missed out on the cut was Mumbai’s Amol Muzumdar who, despite piling on the runs in domestic cricket, never got a look into the Indian Test side.
Muzumdar, widely regarded as the best batsman to have never played for India, ended his career with a remarkable 11,167 first-class runs and went on an outrageous run in the first few years of his career where he averaged over 80. Speaking to Ravichandran Ashwin in a YouTube chat show, the 45-year-old revealed that there was a phase in his career where he felt extremely frustrated to have not gotten picked in the Indian side, but stated that it was his love for the art of batting which kept him going.
"There was a phase in my career where I was really disappointed that I could not make the national team cut. My first 5-6 years of Ranji Trophy I batted with an average of around 82. It was a complete disappointment to not get selected,” Muzumdar told Ashwin on ‘The Formula for Success with Ash’ chat show.
“But then I spoke to myself and I thought that yes, a few people can play for India, but I really loved was batting. I loved batting. It didn't bother me where I was batting - whether it was my office team or for Mumbai or for my club in England or Holland. Wherever I batted, I enjoyed. So I enjoyed my journey right throughout."
The prolific batsman, who played his last first-class game in 2013 at the age of 39, revealed that somewhere during the early part of the 2000s, he considered giving up the game for good and stayed off cricket for one whole month due to frustration. The legendary Mumbaikar, however, said that his father eventually motivated him to get back into the game, after which he went on to play for 10 more years.
"At one stage I was in complete disappointment and I almost gave up the game; I put my kit bag at the top of the cupboard and did not appear on the ground - I gave up Ranji Trophy cricket. I left one game, I came back home and I said to my wife, 'I don't want to play cricket anymore. I'll do something else'. I did not touch the bat for one month. But slowly my father got me back into the game and eventually, I went on to play for 10 more years.”
An epitome of hard work and determination, Muzumdar stated that the one trait which kept him going was his ability to always focus on the present, not sulking too much on disappointments.
"Looking back at my career now, one aspect I feel which really set me on my journey is I lived my life in the present. I never looked back at things. I might express my disappoint at times but I'm the kind of person who is always looking forward to things."