Atul Wassan was a sturdy and hardworking medium pacer who did a decent job under the circumstances on two tours for India in 1990. Indeed he got the most wickets for India (seven) in the series in New Zealand, where he played all three Tests. Although he came under the hammer from Ian Smith in the third Test at Auckland, going for 24 in one over, he finished with his career best figures of 4 for 108. His Test and tour averages were also the best among all the seamers, Kapil and Prabhakar included, on both the tours of New Zealand and England. The averages themselves were not very flattering though as the Indian bowlers took some fearful stick from Graham Gooch and company in England. With a bag of 6 for 89 against Glamorgan, Wassan pressed his way into the XI for the third Test at The Oval after which he was surprisingly cast aside. Wassan's last appearance in national colours was at the Asia Cup in 1990-91 when he was part of the victorious XI that beat Sri Lanka in the final at Eden Gardens. All his four Tests were abroad and his Test career ended at the age of 22. He had a fairly successful Ranji career, picking up 213 wickets at 23.78 and was no slouch with the bat either, with a century against Bengal in the 91-92 Ranji quarters to his name.
Sankhya Krishnan