Denesh Ramdin

Not every career in international cricket arrives polished. West Indies cricket has produced plenty of gifted but unrefined talents over the years, and Denesh Ramdin's early years fit that mould closely. A wicketkeeper first and a batter second for much of his time in the game, he was thrown into international cricket at just 19, with limited formal coaching behind him, and spent the next decade and a half growing into one of the more durable figures in the Caribbean game.

Having made his Test debut in 2005, Ramdin showed early promise behind the stumps with smooth, agile glovework. His batting took longer to catch up, and he didn't register his maiden Test century until 2009, against England in Barbados. His white-ball game followed a similar trajectory, and with time he established himself as West Indies' first-choice gloveman across all formats, serving as vice-captain at one stage and captaining Trinidad and Tobago as well.

In 2014, he was handed the Test captaincy, succeeding Daren Sammy, but a difficult tenure that included a heavy home series defeat to Australia saw him replaced after just over a year by Jason Holder. He played a part in both of West Indies' T20 World Cup triumphs, in 2012 and 2016, and capped off his ODI career in 2016 by becoming the first West Indies wicketkeeper to pass 2,000 runs in the format.

That year also turned out to be his last in both Tests and ODIs. He played on in T20Is a little longer, making his final appearance for West Indies in December 2019. He didn't formally announce his retirement from international cricket until July 2022, closing out a 17-year international career that spanned 74 Tests, 139 ODIs and 71 T20Is.