Sameer Dighe

Sameer Dighe was a wicket-keeper batsman who played six Tests and 23 One Dayers, but his selection was always regarded as a controversial issue in Indian Cricket. Dighe’s national call-up came in the fag-end of his career. He was in America, studying when he was called to tour Australia at the end of 1999. 

The wicket-keeper batsman was a quality cricketer for Mumbai who started playing for the state team back in the 1990-91 Ranji Trophy season. Dighe made his debut against Gujrat to score 107 runs. The Bombay-born ended the tournament with 440 runs in 6 innings at an average of 73.33, including two centuries and a fifty. He became a vital cog in the Bombay (now Mumbai) set up and also captained them in his penultimate season. 

When Australia toured India in 2000, Dighe got his opportunity to don the Indian jersey during the third and last Test of the series. The keeper didn't have a great time behind the stumps but batted with the tail to help India register a memorable 2-1 series win. 

After a prolific performance, skipper Sourav Ganguly backed the Bombay-based keeper and announced that Dighe would be the first-choice keeper. He scored an unbeaten 94 against Zimbabwe to make his case stronger but a handful of injuries sidelined the keeper-batsman from the Indian team’s selection. 

The Bombay-born played his last domestic season in the 2001-02 cycle before he took the role of coach. Over the years, Dighe has coached Hong Kong's national team, Tripura, Mumbai and has also been fielding coach for Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

(As of April 2021)