Nilesh Kulkarni - India - Batsman

Nilesh Kulkarni was a steady left-arm spinner who turned out to be one of the stalwarts of Mumbai's cricket in 1990s and 2000s. He also played for India in three Tests and a handful of ODIs. In fact, Kulkarni took a wicket off his first ball in Test cricket when he dismissed Marvan Atapattu at Colombo (RPS) in 1997. He is the only cricketer from India to achieve this landmark. But as the fate would have it, he bowled 70 overs in that innings and didn't pick another scalp. Sri Lanka went on to amass the highest ever total in Test cricket.

The tall spinner could play only two more Tests for the country. In the ODI format, Kulkarni turned out to be a handy performer in the few opportunities he got. One of his better spells came in Pakistan in a ODI played in Hyderabad (Pakistan) in 1997. He took 3 for 27 on a wicket that offered some assistance for the spinners, but that effort went in vain as Pakistan won by five wickets.

Domestically, he was part of a very successful Mumbai unit. After serving the Mumbai team for more than a decade he retired from the game in 2010. He snaffled 357 wickets in First-Class cricket and at an impressive average of 24.89.

By Bharath Ramaraj