Failure on debut and success at World Cup (1987) Sidhu made his
first-class debut in November 1981 playing for
Punjab against
Services in
Amritsar. Opening the innings, he made 51 before he was
run out, as his team won the match by an innings. He was called up to the Indian
Test team in November 1983 after he scored a
century (122) for the
North Zone playing against the
touring West Indies team the previous month. He was drafted to the Test team as a replacement to an injured
Dilip Vengsarkar for the Third Test in
Ahmedabad. He scored 20 runs in 90 minutes before he was
booed out of the ground upon dismissal. After another modest score in the final Test in
Madras (now Chennai), he was dropped from the team. Sidhu was recalled to the national team only four years later, for the
World Cup. Making his
One Day International (ODI) debut against
Australia in the first of the group stage games, he made a 79-ball 73, an innings that included five
sixes and four
fours. India went on to lose the match by a single run. After the game, Australia's captain
Allan Border had remarked: "When the bloke hits the ball, it stays hit." Sidhu scored two more successive fifties, against Australia and
Zimbabwe (51 and 55 respectively), and in the process, became the first player to record four successive half-centuries on debut in ODIs. He finished the tournament scoring three fifties in four innings aggregating to 179 runs and was named man of the tournament.
Return to Test team Sidhu made his return to the Test side after five years, replacing
Mohinder Amarnath, with a century in first innings of the
Bangalore Test
against New Zealand in November 1988. Batting for 295 minutes, he made 116 in 195 balls, an innings that included four sixes and 12 fours, punishing mostly the spinners, before he followed it up with an unbeaten 43 in the second innings, helping his team win by 172 runs. His second Test century came in the Fourth Test of
India's Caribbean Tour later that season. He made 116 while opening the innings
retiring hurt 30 minutes before end of play on day one after suffering from cramp in the legs.
Wisden wrote, "Batting securely despite obvious flaws in technique, he reached his century in 324 minutes, off 216 balls, and hit eight fours." The innings was considered one of his best considering that the Sabina Park
wicket was among the fastest in the world. He totalled 179 runs at an
average of 29.83 for the series. Touring
Pakistan in 1989–90, Sidhu averaged 38.42 in four Tests, with his best performance coming in the Fourth test in
Sialkot. He rescued India in their second innings when down 38/4 putting together a century
stand with
Sachin Tendulkar while making 97. He was named man of the match. Sidhu injured his wrist in the First Test of
India's tour of New Zealand later that season, while facing an aggressive spell of
fast bowling by
Danny Morrison, ruling him out of the series. He had a poor
tour of England and
Australia averaging 11.20 and 20.40, totaling 56 and 102 runs respectively, both three-Test series. After poor performances at the domestic level, he was omitted from the 16-member side that was selected to
tour South Africa starting October 1992.
Ajay Jadeja replaced him in the squad. Sidhu was recalled when
England toured India later that season. He made his third Test hundred in the Second Test in
Madras, scoring 106 off 273 balls while opening the innings. He struck a partnership with Tendulkar who made 165 taking their team to 560 before
declaration. India went on to win the match and the series. Sidhu particularly attacked spinner
John Emburey in his innings that included nine fours. He aggregated 235 in the series at 58.75. Sidhu was India's best performer in the ODI series that followed, scoring 287 runs at 57.40. He played two match-winning knocks: a 76 in
Chandigarh followed by an unbeaten 134 in
Gwalior. He received man of the match awards for both performances. The latter innings followed after India were down having lost two wickets with 4 runs on the board. Sidhu put together a 175-run stand with
Mohammad Azharuddin for the third wicket. En route to his century, Sidhu passed 2,000 runs in ODIs. After India's series-leveling victory in the final game, Sidhu was given the man of the series award. His first ODI century came against
Pakistan in
Sharjah in 1989 while his 134 against
England at
Gwalior in 1993 was his highest ODI score and the innings which he called his best when he retired in 1999. Sidhu told in an interview that an article criticising his dismal performance changed his cricketing life. After a string of poor performances in 1983,
Rajan Bala, a noted
cricket columnist, wrote an article on him titled "Sidhu: The Strokeless Wonder" in the
Indian Express. It was an epiphany that changed his life and he started taking his cricketing career seriously. After his improved performance in 1987 World Cup, the same columnist wrote an article titled "Sidhu: From Strokeless Wonder To A Palm-Grove Hitter", applauding his performance. Sidhu scored over 500 Test runs in a year thrice (1993, 1994 and 1997). His only Test double century came during
India's 1997 tour of the West Indies. In 1994, he scored 884 ODI runs. Sidhu was the first Indian batsman to score more than 5 centuries in one day internationals.
201 against the West Indies and retirement Sidhu walked out of
India's 1996 tour of England citing differences with captain
Mohammad Azharuddin. Following this, he was banished from the team for ten Tests by the BCCI eventually making a return in the
1996–97 tour of West Indies. He scored a
double century in the Second Test at
Port of Spain, his first in Tests. Coming off 488 balls in 671 minutes, it was one of the slowest in Test history. He reached his century on day two, and after having scored only 94 runs on the third day, reached the double on the morning of day four. En route, he put on a 171-run stand with
Rahul Dravid and a 171-run stand with Tendulkar. The match ended in a draw. Barring the 201, Sidhu had an average series and aggregated 276 at 46.00 in six innings. Sidhu was dropped from the Test side for the
series against Pakistan after a poor
tour of New Zealand in 1998–99. He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in December 1999. He played 51 Test matches and over 100 ODIs scoring over 7,000 international runs. He scored 27 First class centuries in an 18-year career. Some of the nicknames he earned were "Sixer Sidhu" for his prolific batting performances and "Jonty Singh" with respect to his improved fielding in his late career,
Jonty Rhodes being the best fielder at that time.
Career best performances ==Commentator and television career==