Surinder Khanna - India - Batsman

Surinder Khanna is a former Indian wicket-keeper batsman who represented India in 10 ODIs. Surinder first made his mark in the Ranji Trophy final against Karnataka in 1978-79. He scored tons in both the innings as Delhi won their maiden Ranji title. In fact, Surinder had a wonderful season as he amassed 657 runs at an average of 73.

He became an integral part of the Delhi squad in domestic cricket and played a major role in their rise during the late seventies and early eighties. He got his first chance to represent India when the selectors dropped Syed Kirmani and picked him for India's tour of England in 1979.

Surinder though had a poor tour. He made his debut against the West Indies in the first game of the 1979 World Cup. He had a miserable outing as he was out for a duck. India crashed out of the tournament as they failed to win even a single game, with Surinder's contribution just being 7 and 10 in India's two remaining games. He was dropped from the squad after he failed to impress during the first-class games as well.

An attacking batsman by instinct, Surinder's international career received new life when he was picked for the 1984 Asia Cup. His consecutive fifties in low-scoring games against Sri Lanka and Pakistan helped India win the title and he was adjudged the Man of the Series for his contribution.

Just when his career seemed to have taken off, his form took a hit. He had a horrible series against Australia when they toured India in 1984. In 4 innings, he scored 13, 4, 3 and 1* as India lost the series 3-0. Surinder was also part of the Indian squad that visited Pakistan just a few days after the Australia series got over. Despite top-scoring for India with 31 in the first ODI, he was left out of the team after India lost the game by 46 runs. He never played for India again.

He remained an important player for Delhi and had participated in 106 first-class matches by the end of his career. In 141 innings, he made 5337 runs at an average of 43.39, including 17 hundreds and 20 half-centuries.

Surinder Khanna now works as a cricket expert and commentator.