Sachin Tendulkar ended his glorious Test career after playing his farewell Test match against West Indies in 2013. The Indian legend made his Test debut aged 16 in 1989. After a successful 24-year run and donning his 200th Test cap, Sachin called it quits in front of his home crowd. Sachin missed out on a well-deserved century and departed for 74 in the only innings he played.
Pragyan Ojha was India's star performer with the ball and he took a 10-fer. The senior spinner toppled West Indies's batting with five-fers across both innings. He was bestowed with the Player of the Match award for his heroics.
A 10-fer guarantees a player a place in the playing XI for the next game but the opposite happened with Ojha. He was benched during the next series against South Africa and was dropped from the Test squad for the New Zealand tour. The selectors' decision to drop Ojha shocked one and all.
R Ashwin was India's lead spinner back then while Ravindra Jadeja was also part of the team. MS Dhoni, who always backed the duo during his captaincy, probably wanted an all-rounder in the team and he went ahead of Jadeja instead of Ojha.
Speaking to PTI following the Test series defeat against New Zealand (in 2014), Sourav Ganguly opined that Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha were must in the Test team. Harbhajan became an irregular member of Team India in 2011.
"I don't think pacers are a reason for India's defeat. But it's our spin department where we're lacking. Dhoni has to think about his spin department. Jadeja has no variation. We also need to bring back Harbhajan Singh. He has good record overseas. Both of them (Harbhajan and Ojha) are a must especially in Test cricket," the former India captain said.
Ojha played for India A for next few years but couldn't make his India comeback. He announced his retirement in 2020. The senior spinner played 24 Tests, 18 ODIs and 6 T20Is. He won three IPL titles (one with Deccan Chargers and two with Mumbai Indians).