There have been a few players who have actually been of Indian origin but have either played domestic cricket in England or have represented The Three Lions in international cricket. This is because of them being either born in England or having the citizenship of England.
Here we look at five such players who are of Indian origin but have played international cricket for England.
1. Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain is regarded as one of the most shrewd captains England has produced. He is also the first player of Indian origin to captain The Three Lions. He was born in Madras in India, but later shifted with his parents to England. Hussain played for Essex from a young age and rising through the ranks, began playing for England. He took over the Test captaincy of England when they were not in a great overall stage.
However, his successful combination with coach and former Zimbabwe cricketer Duncan Fletcher helped take England cricket to respectable heights. He groomed a young Michael Vaughan to become England’s next captain. Nasser Hussain’s best personal achievement would be his double hundred against Australia in the Ashes of 1997 which helped his team win.
2. Monty Panesar
Monty Panesar was another player of Indian origin to represent England. He was born in Luton but to Indian parents and grew up there itself. He made his international debut in a Test match versus India in 2006 and made his ODI debut a year later. Playing Test and ODI cricket for England, Panesar did manage to string some impressive performances at first. However, with time, his performance faded and off-spinner Graeme Swann was seen as England’s new first-choice spinner across all formats.
England’s 2012 tours to the subcontinent saw them need an additional spinner alongside Graeme Swann to create an impact. Impressing against Pakistan in the UAE, Monty Panesar dished out the best performance of his life on an away tour to India. He picked up 17 wickets against the country of his origin in four Tests which helped England turn the series around and make history by winning it 2-1.
He continued to be a part of the England team for some more time but in the end, tapered away due to inconsistency.
3. Ravi Bopara
Ravi Bopara was another player of Indian origin who got an opportunity to make his mark for England. He was born in Forest Gate, London to a Sikh family. 2009 was his best year in international cricket as at the top of the order he scored back to back hundreds against the West Indies and seemed to have cemented his place in the side. He was also one of the few England players to hit three consecutive Test centuries.
However, he failed to maintain consistency and was dropped from England’s Test side. Bopara brought another dimension of his game to the table with his medium pacers and played as an all-rounder for England down the order in the lead up to the 2015 World Cup.
However, England were knocked out of the competition before the quarter-final itself. This led to an inquest and barring a few players from that campaign, all the other including Bopara were dropped and never got a callback.
4. Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ramprakash is remembered as a batsman who had promised a lot but couldn’t live up to his expectations. He was born to Indian parents in Hertfordshire. Rising through the domestic ranks, Ramprakash made his England debut at the age of just 21 years. Great things were destined for this lad as he had a solid temperament and great technique.
However, even his career was marred by inconsistency and although he played 52 Tests for England, he could score only two Test hundreds, constantly being in and out of the England team. In the domestic circuit though, Ramprakash made his reputation as a prolific batsman and racked up more than 100 first-class hundreds.
However, he never received a national call up again and remained as someone who could have achieved so much more with the England team but couldn’t.
5. Samit Patel
Samit Patel was an all-rounder who was born in an Indian family that originated from Bhavnagar, Gujarat. He got to play for England in as early as 2008. He couldn’t save his place in the team for a long time though due to inconsistent performances.
In 2011, Patel again received a call up to the national squad and did relatively well in both white-ball and red-ball cricket. But the emergence of better spinning all-rounders like Moeen Ali have kept him out of the England side till date.
He still continues to play domestic cricket and has become a veteran all-rounder, contributing with the ball and scoring handy runs down the order.
