Photo via Hindustan Times

Stranded on 299, added 400 with Tendulkar: India’s forgotten domestic giant who belted 4 double centuries but never made it past Ganguly, Dravid

Shantanu Sugwekar’s first-class cricket career was defined by staggering consistency and heartbreaking near-misses. The Maharashtra batsman amassed 6,653 runs across 85 matches at an average of 63.10, including 19 centuries and 26 half-centuries, yet never earned a single cap for India despite playing alongside legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Vinod Kambli.

His highest score, 299 against Madhya Pradesh in the 1988–89 Ranji Trophy, came when he was just 22—one run shy of a triple century—after his team’s No. 11, Anil Walhekar, broke down in tears after a 102-run partnership.

Sugwekar’s resilience extended far beyond that moment; he later scored 211, 225, and an unbeaten 210 in later seasons, including four hundreds in the 1993–94 Ranji Trophy alone. His career overlapped with India’s golden generation, yet selectors repeatedly overlooked him in favor of established names like Azharuddin and emerging talents such as Dravid and Laxman, leaving his extraordinary domestic dominance forever untapped at the international level.

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