Liam Plunkett

Liam Plunkett burst onto the international scene as a tearaway quick, who hustled the opposition for pace, with his almost mechanical, front-on action. After taking over the baton from Steve Harmison for Durham, Plunkett was handed his Test and ODI debuts on the tour of Pakistan in 2005. Plunkett's lower-order batting talent also came to the fore during his half-century in only his second ODI against Pakistan, albeit in a losing cause. But his determination and calmness when the illustrious seniors failed caught the eye. Just when England believed that they had unearthed a fine all-rounder, Plunkett became too erratic and fell by the wayside. He hit rock-bottom in 2007 and was dropped from the set-up.

Plunkett got another chance to redeem himself when he was picked in the squad for the Test series against South Africa in 2009-10 but was relegated to the bench. The likes of Graham Onions, Tim Bresnan and Chris Woakes usurped Plunkett and the advent of injuries did not help the Durham man's cause either. He then shifted to Yorkshire, sparking a resurgence to force his way back into the English Test side following an agonizing 7-year exile. The final piece in Plunkett's comeback fell in place when he secured his maiden 5-fer in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley. Plunkett also made a handy 39 with the bat in the first Test against the same opposition at Lord's.

It seemed like Plunkett had started to redeem his career but injuries started to hound him in the following Test series at home against India. He played the first couple of Tests before bowing out due to fitness issues. He hasn't represented England in red-ball cricket ever since. The closest opportunity he had was to replace an injured Steven Finn for the 2017-18 Ashes tour of Australia. But as it turned out, rookie pacer Tom Curran was picked ahead of him. The selectors clearly do not trust Plunkett's body to be durable enough to endure the stress of a five-day game.

While his Test fortunes have largely been on the dip, Plunkett has been mighty effective in the shorter formats for England, particularly the 50-over format. The major squad overhaul after the 2015 World Cup disaster saw the team opting for fearless batsmen and a more aggressive approach to bowling as well. Plunkett found himself in the new role of an enforcer, whose job was to create opportunities out of the blue, mainly during the crucial middle overs. He has been very successful at it too, constantly striking when England have needed a breakthrough, even if it has meant him giving away a few runs. His ability to hit a long ball only further adds to an already intimidating English batting line-up.