Do well in the Irani Trophy and play for India. There seems to be a lot of truth in this, going by the number of times a player shining in the important annual fixture has gone to immediately represent the country.

The latest in a long illustrious line is of course T.Kumaran who made the transition from a Tamil Nadu state player to a nationally known figure by taking ten wickets in the Irani Trophy game against Karnataka last month. More than anything else - and he did have a couple of important credentials like being an exceptionally promising MRF Pace Foundation trainee and taking 46 wickets in the Ranji Trophy last season - it was his showing in the Irani Trophy game that brought him closer to national recognition.

But then the Irani Trophy game is probably the most important domestic fixture and it can be said that a good performance here should attract considerable attention. Nevertheless some of the feats in the annual tie have been truly outstanding and have either brought unknown players to the forefront or resurrected careers.

In 1975 for example 19-year-old Dilip Vengsarkar was just another promising cricketer, hardly known outside Bombay. And yet one knock of 110 he played in the Irani Trophy game at Nagpur - during which he treated Bedi and Prasanna with scant respect - brought him immediate national recognition. Oldtimers compared his batting to that of CK Nayudu and Vengsarkar earned the sobriquet ``Colonel''. Within a month, he was opening the Indian innings with Sunil Gavaskar in a `Test' against Sri Lanka and shortly afterwards went on the tour of New Zealand and West Indies, when he got the first of his 116 Test caps.

Three years later, it was the turn of Kapil Dev to display his skill and talent in the Irani Trophy. On the eve of the selection of the Indian team which went on a path breaking trip to Pakistan, the tall and well built 19-year-old from Haryana came up with a fine all round show when Rest of India scored over Karnataka at Bangalore and the rest, as the cliche goes, is history. Kapil was already on the fringe of selection but it was his Irani Trophy performance that clinched the place for him.

In October 1982, K.Srikkanth had been tried and discarded at the Test level. ``Good for one day cricket, not for Test cricket'' was the general refrain with regard to the dashing Tamil Nadu opener's abilities. Srikkanth took up the challenge and with a blazing century in the Irani Trophy tie at New Delhi - again oldtimers were reminded of CK Nayudu when they saw the dashing swashbuckler at his best - he not only shaped a memorable triumph for Rest of India but forced his way into the Indian team that went to Pakistan.

Six years it was the turn of another swashbuckler from Tamil Nadu - a batsmen who at his best could make even Srikkanth look pedestrian - to parade his capabilities in the Irani Trophy game against Rest of India at Madras. When Tamil Nadu were set a difficult target, VB Chandrasekhar made light of the task by reaching his century off just 56 balls - then the fastest hundred by an Indian in first class cricket to steer Tamil Nadu to a sensational victory. His pyrotechnics attracted considerable attention and ere long he was opening the innings with Srikkanth in the one day internationals against New Zealand.

But perhaps the cricketer to benefit most from one crucial performance in the Irani Trophy has been Anil Kumble. The current No 1 strike bowler made his debut in England in 1990, was discarded after that and not considered for the one off Test against Sri Lanka in 1990-91, the tour of Australia in 1991-92 and the World Cup that followed. Shastri, Venkatpathi Raju and Hirwani were the established Indian spinners during this time and the three were expected to keep their place for the historic tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa in 1992-93. But with a superb effort in the Irani Trophy match held just prior to the selection of the Indian team, Kumble edged out Hirwani for the third spinner's slot. Kumble took 13 wickets in the game (7 for 64 and 6 for 74) to bowl Rest of India to an innings victory over Delhi. Kumble went on the tour, took 21 wickets in the five Tests against the two countries, finished with another 21 wickets in three Tests against England at home in early 1993 and there has been no looking back since then.