The tall Delhi seamer, Atul Wassan, was a consistent performer in domestic cricket. He also went on to play 4 Tests and 9 ODIs for the country. Wassan could hit the pitch hard from a high release, alongside bowling long spells. Unfortunately, his career would be mostly remembered for Ian Smith thumping him to all parts of the ground, in a Test, in Auckland, in 1990. Smith even clubbed him for 24 runs in a single over, and equalled the-then world record for most runs scored in an over by a batsman in Test cricket.

However, it has to be said that Wassan carved out a niche for himself in the domestic arena. Wassan's breakthrough season was in 1989-90 when he helped Delhi to win the Irani Trophy by scalping five wickets in a match against Rest of India. He followed it up with several top-notch performances, which included the memorable 10-for he took against Jammu and Kashmir in Delhi. During that season, he also finished with a 10-for versus Services in Palam.

Those noteworthy performances helped him to gain a place in the Indian squad for the tour of New Zealand. He made his Test debut in the first game of the series in Christchurch. In the third Test of that series, in helpful conditions for seamers, Manoj Prabhakar and Wassan had dented New Zealand's batting line-up, and reduced them to 131 for 7. Wassan even took the vital scalp of Martin Crowe. Smith, though, had other ideas.

In the Rothmans Cup, Wassan earned his maiden ODI cap and immediately made an impression in his first game by scalping three wickets against New Zealand in Dunedin. The highlight of that spell was the the delivery that nipped back from a good length to trap Andrew Jones in front. Wassan also played in the series against England in their own backyard. He played in one Test at The Oval and sadly that turned out to be the last time he played for India in the longest format.

Wassan also bagged 290 wickets in first-class matches and compiled two hundreds. Wassan's ability with the willow in hand can be encapsulated by his career-best 110 in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal versus Bengal in 1991-92. He stitched an alliance of 130 with Vivek Razdan and followed it up with a 61-run association for the last wicket with Vemulapally Arvind. After retiring from the game in 1997-98, Wassan became a commentator.

Interesting fact: Wassan studied at the Guru Harkrishan Public School in Vasant Vihar.

By Bharath Ramaraj