In this weekend’s blog, I am continuing my blog on the Top 60 Greatest Indian cricketers. In the last four weekend blogs, I have mentioned the cricketers ranked No. 11 to No. 60. Friends, you must still be wondering how the cricketers are ranked in this list of 60 greatest.
Now what criteria went into picking this list- First India’s major victories and in which players contributed to those triumphs. This includes famous Test wins, T20, ODI World Cup Wins, Champions Trophy etc.
- World Cup Wins: 1983 ODI WC, 2007 T20 WC, 2011 ODI WC, 2024 T20 WC.
- Other ICC Wins- 2002 Champions trophy, 2013 Champions trophy.
- Runners Up- 2003 ODI WC, 2014 T20 WC, 2017 Champions Trophy, 2023 ODI WC.
- Major Test Series Victories- India Tour of England 1971, India Tour of England 1986, Australia Tour of India 2001, Border Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19, Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21.
Statistics
For cricketers who played before the 1970s, their anecdotal references and stories as well as first class statistics were considered. For cricketers who represented India after 1970s statistics considered were, Wickets taken, Runs scored, Matches as Captain and matches won, Dismissals as Wicket keeper, and Most Catches taken.
For each cricketer listed, the number of International matches played across formats(for longevity), player of the match/series awards (impact), notable achievements (specific Test series & World Cup Stats), and if they captained India, played 100 Tests, and/or won a World Cup.
If a retired player satisfied any of the following criteria, then they automatically made into this list.
- 9 Player of the Match Awards
- 300+ International Wickets
- 10000+ International Runs.
Note- Ranjit Singh and Duleep Singh, two of the greatest cricketers of Indian origin after whom ‘Ranji’ and ‘Duleep’ trophies are named, do not feature in this list because they represented England in their International career.
Now continuing with the list of balance players in the list of 60 Greatest Indian Cricketers:
At No. 10 is Ravichandran Ashwin , Tamilnadu (2010- ), Off spinner, All-Rounder
One of the great Test off-spinners of all-time. He established himself as one of premier spinner-all rounders of the generations with 6 Test centuries and 500+ Test wickets.
Matches played 281, Wickets 744, Runs 4200, Player of Match (POM) 16, Player of Series (POS) 11, Part of winning WC team, 100+ Tests.
Notable achievements- 32 Wickets vs England (2020-21), 31 Wickets vs South Africa (2019-20), 29 Wickets s Australia (2012-13), 28 Wickets vs England (2016-17), 27 Wickets vs New Zealand (2016-17), 26 Wickets vs England (2023-24), 25 Wickets vs Australia(2022-23). 36 career 5 wickets haul.
9 Polly Umrigar, Mumbai (1948-1962) Batter/All-Rounder
Took the baton from Vijay Merchant to continue Bombay school of batting. At the time of retirement, he held the record for the most Tests, most runs and most wickets.
Matches played 59, Runs 3631, he captained the country.
Notable achievements-560 runs vs West Indies (1952-53), Scored a 100 and took 5 Wickets vs West Indies (1962).
8 Rohit Sharma, Mumbai (2007- ), Batter
One of the most pleasing batsman to watch, he has made a career on the back of gigantic ODI hundreds: 264,209, 208, 171, 162, 159, 152, 150. He reinvented his career as opener in 2013 and never looked back. Capped his Legacy with great runs in 2019 & 2023 ODI WCs, and the 2024 T20 WC winning captain.
Matches played 481, Runs 19,199, POM 42, POS 9, Part of two T20 WC winning teams (2007 & 2024).
Notable achievements- T20 WC winning captain, 529 runs vs South Africa (2019-20), scored 3 double centuries in ODI cricket.
7 Anil Kumble, Karnataka (1990-2008), Leg Spinner
He is still India’s highest wicket takers in ODIs and Tests. A central figure in India’s XI for a decade, he will always be remembered for his 10-wicket haul against Pakistan in a Test inning. Retired on high as India’s captain.
Matches played 401, Wickets 953, POM 16, POS 5, played 100+ Tests.
Notable achievements- 35 career 5 wickets haul, 27 Wickets vs Australia (2004-05), 24 Wickets vs Australia (2003-04), 23 Wickets vs Australia (1997-98), 23 wickets vs West Indies (2006). 10/74 against Pakistan, and 8/141 vs Australia.
6 Rahul Dravid, Karnataka (1996-2012), Batter, Wicket Keeper
The man in the centre of India’s memorable overseas Test victories. He was known as “The Wall” and was glue to India’s middle order. He adapted his way to fruitful ODI career, became a wicket keeper, a captain, and eventually U-19 & Senior World Cup winning coach.
Matches played- 504, runs 24,064, POM 25, POS 4. He captained India, played 100+ Tests
Notable achievements- 619 runs vs Australia (2003-04), 602 vs England (2002), 496 vs West Indies (2006), 461 runs vs England (2011), Highest scorer 1999 ODI WC.
I will write about the top 5 greatest Indian cricketers in my next weekend blog. Friends, can you guess them. Please do write in the comments columns at the end of the blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
4th October 2024