Many Indians still remembered Rajesh Chauhan, when he hit a final over six to magician Saqlain Mushtaq in the 2nd ODI at Karachi in 1997. That was probably the highest point of off-spinner. The other thing, that would be wiped out by Rajesh Chauhan from his Test cricket, was conceding 276 runs for one wicket against Sri Lanka during the world record of 952/6 at SSC in 1997.
His final figures were 78-8-27-1 on the batting-friendly flat wicket. This was the second-worst bowling analysis in the history of the game. This notorious moment wrapped his cricket career as well, and never come back to the Test side.
Rajesh Chauhan was born on December 19, 1966, in Ranchi, Bihar. He was the key player of Madhya Pradesh in the domestic circuit. He belongs to a cricketing family, as his father Govind Raja Chauhan also played Duleep Trophy in 1964 and Ranji Trophy in 1957. Not only that, but he was the key member of the Indian spin trio of Anil Kumble, Raju, and Chauhan.
All three players created huge problems for the England tour of India in 1992-93 and starred in the 3-0 (whitewash) triumph. Rajesh Chauhan made his test debut against England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, and he took five wickets. (3 Wickets in the First Inning and 2 wickets in The second Inning).
A bad incident took place on their tour in 1994 to New Zealand when his bowling action was declared illegal, and he had to pass many bowling tests by the ICC, and eventually, he was cleared. The change in bowling action ultimately affected his confidence and ability to penetrate at the international level.
In 1998, when Australia tour India, he could not gain selectors’ confidence and eventually was dropped. He tried hard after that in the domestic circuit to regain his fitness and confidence. But never come back and retired from all forms of cricket in 2001.
During his career, he continuously struggled to cement his place on the Indian side, but he could play 21 Tests for India. Out of 21, India won 12 matches and drew 9 Test matches. Another milestone of which is Rajesh Chauhan holding the world record of playing the most Test matches for an undefeated side. In the 21 Tests that he played; India remained unbeaten. In 2007, Chauhan sustained a fracture, and bruises on his leg, back, and arm during a car accident. Therefore, in 2014, he suffered another setback of a massive heart attack and survived. Currently, he is a businessman.
From 1993 to 1998 he played 21 Tests and 35 ODI’s for India. In 21 Test matches, he took 47 wickets @ 39.51 with the best of 4 for 48. In 35 ODI’s he managed to be taken 29 wickets @ 41.93 with the career-best figure of 3 for 29. He appeared in 99 first-class matches, he scored 1,957 runs at 19.00 with the best of 100 not out, including 1 hundred and five fifties, and took 77 catches.
In the bowling department, he grabbed 318 wickets @ 32.35 with the best of 7 for 39 including 19 times five wickets in an innings and 4 times 10 wickets in a match. In 99 List Matches, he scored 650 runs with the help of one fifty and 38 catches. He managed to pick 101 wickets at 31.73 with the best of 4 for 23. Although his contribution was little valued, he will be remembered in the list of those off-spinners who played well and made some contributions to Indian cricket records.
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