[1][2] A left arm spinner, he represented Patiala, Southern Punjab, Delhi and Haryana in domestic cricket.
In 2016, he received the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honour conferred by BCCI on a former player.
[3] The son of an assistant station master in the Indian Railways, Goel came up through the Vaish school and college in Rohtak.
Thereafter, the presence of the "Indian spin quartet", especially Bishen Bedi who bowled in a similar style, restricted his appearances for India.
Goel is one of two non-Test cricketers, the other being Padmakar Shivalkar, who Sunil Gavaskar chose among his "idols" in his book of the same name.
"I have never been able to feel comfortable against his left hand spinners and Goel has been one who, because of his flatter trajectory, has not given me the opportunity to step down the track and drive."