Hrishikesh Kanitkar's name will forever be linked with his winning boundary off Saqlain Mushtaq in fading light in India's memorable victory over Pakistan at Dhaka in January 1998, when the team chased a 300-plus target in the Independence Cup final. That, however, was one of the few highlights of his international career, which included two Tests and 34 one-day internationals.

A gutsy left-hand middle-order batsman, an accurate offspinner and a brilliant versatile fieldsman, Kanitkar never established himself as a regular in the Indian team. In 1998 and 1999, he played a fair number of ODIs, and notched up his only half-century in the format in his third innings, against Australia in Kochi. His biggest opportunity came when he was flown halfway round the world from the West Indies, where he was leading the India A team, to represent the Indian side in Australia as a replacement for Ajay Jadeja. However, against a top-notch Australian side, he was clearly not equipped enough. He failed in a couple of Tests and in the ODIs - as did most of the players in that series - and never played another game for India. However, he continued to play first-class cricket successfully for well over a decade after that, for Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Hrishikesh is the son of Hemant Kanitkar, who played two Tests against West Indies in 1974-75.
Partab Ramchand