For a solid opening batsman - who amassed 10000+ runs at the domestic level - Daren Ganga came up short in international cricket. The Trinidad and Tobago batsman figured in only 48 Tests and 35 ODIs with 3 hundreds to his name before being discarded. Ganga's biggest nemesis was his poor conversion rate - that inability to kick on from bright little starts and often struggling to get the ball off the square.

At 19, Daren Ganga was given his Test debut against South Africa at Durban, becoming the youngest T&T player in 35 years to make to the West Indies Test team. Struggling for consistency, Ganga was shunted in and out of the team. He finally made that breakthrough at the international level in the 2003 home series against Australia, he compiled back to back centuries, helping West Indies hold fort.

His form though tapered off on the tour to South Africa in 2004. Ganga just wheedled out 122 runs in 4 Tests before the failure against England forced the selectors to axe him. Then, Ganga fought his way back into the team on the back of leading T&T to the Carib Beer Cup triumph. He led from the front, piling on 610 runs. His new found maturity reinjected faith into selection panel as Ganga was recalled for West Indies' tour of New Zealand in 2006. Ganga finished the 3-match Test series as the second highest run-getter with 191 runs, 44 behind Chris Gayle. He followed it up with 173 runs against Pakistan including successive 80's.

With Lara hanging up his boots and Sarwan sustaining an injury, Ganga was named West Indies' captain for the tour to England. Malfunctioning with the bat, Ganga was soon jettisoned. He came back in 2008 but faltered again again in South Africa. His ODI career was no better either, which meant that his start-stop international career has reached its final stop.

However, he enjoyed considerable success with T&T until retirement in 2012.

By Deivarayan Muthu