The Top 10 Indian Cricketers
It is said that the mood of the Indian nation oscillates with the same frequency as the performance of its cricket team. And the cricketers, who are elevated to the status of demi-gods, decide how the team performs. Tridib brings you a list of the top 10 cricketers who are an asset to the Indian team.
The Indian Premier League has grabbed the imaginations of men and women alike, sending the TRP ratings of Saas Bahu dramas flying out of the window. Another thing that it has managed to do is open up a whole new set of arguments concerning who the best players in the country are by pitting them against each other. Keeping this trend in mind, I have come up with a list of the top ten cricketers in India who are capable of taking the Indian team to newer heights.
10: Gautam Gambhir
His attacking strokeplay at the top of the order has become one of the highlights of the IPL. With a technique that makes him an automatic choice to open in one-dayers and the pure aggression that makes him an explosive batsman, he’s got the perfect combination for a new age cricketer. This he displayed to perfection during the ICC 20Twenty World Cup in South Africa by being the highest scorer. And while some dismissed this performance considering it a flash in the pan, he removed all doubts through his performances during the IPL. In the IPL, has scored 534 runs in 14 matches with a strike rate of more than 140. Send him in with Tendulkar or Sehwag to open an innings and you know that you can now boast of one of the most thrilling opening line up in world cricket. Now he is also staking a claim for the test slot with his consistent performances in the shorter versions of the game.
9: Irfan Pathan
He is probably the only Indian at the moment who has some serious potential to be a genuine all-rounder. When he first came on to the international cricket scene as a 19 year old during the 2003-04 tour to Australia, he turned heads with his raw energy and immaculate swing. And soon, glimpses of his batting prowess earned him comparisons with the great Kapil Dev. He started coming on at number 3 in One-dayers and often bailed his team out of tricky situations in Test matches through some simple but effective batting. His career took a downward turn towards the end of 2006 when he lost a lot of pace in his bowling, but now he has more than compensated this loss of pace with accuracy. Today he is India’s go-to-guy when you want to stem the flow of runs or break a partnership. There are cricketers in the country who bat better than him and there are those who outdo him in the bowling department, but no one can excel in both forms of the game as he does. This puts him right up there with the best in the business in this country.
8: Rahul Dravid
Some may say that he is past his prime, but if there is someone who you would want to bat to save your life, it’s Rahul Dravid. Even the best batsmen in the world make the bowler feel that they can get them out if they bowl in the right areas. But with this man, the bowlers are simply left clueless waiting for him to make a mistake, which by the way does not happen very often. So, it’s not a mere coincidence that he is known around the world as ‘The Wall’. At present, this legend is going through a low in his career having to fight for his place in the one-day team, with the younger ones with fresher legs staking claim for his spot but as far as test matches are concerned, there is no replacing him. He averages almost 55 in Tests and about 40 in One-dayers. So dismiss him at your own peril.
7: Harbhajan Singh
He is India’s top off-spin bowler and is the person tipped by all to carry on the country’s rich legacy of spin bowlers after the retirement of the inimitable Kumble. With his whiplash action, Harbhajan Singh commands supreme control of over the ball hitting the perfect line and length no matter what time of the day it is. He can flight the ball, bowl flat yorkers or even turn the ball the wrong way. But his main weapon remains the one which rises awkwardly on the batsmen from good length. Of late he’s been in the news more for the wrong reasons and has had a pretty forgetful IPL season with four consecutive losses as the captain of Mumbai Indians (not to mention the infamous ‘slapgate’ incident) but don’t discount him yet. His inherent aggression and explosive batting down the order makes him quite a handful.
6: Sourav Ganguly
Ravi Shastri once said, ‘When it comes to the off-side play, first there’s God and then there is Ganguly’. This is a testament to Ganguly’s unparalleled ability to dissect the field with surgical precision with his amazing hand-eye co-ordination. This, coupled with a high level of aggression, led to Ganguly being one of the greatest One-day batsmen to have ever played for India. He started his career with an unforgettable Test century on debut at Lords and what followed was one of the most dramatic stories in Indian cricket. After establishing himself as a middle order Test batsman, he went on to stake claim for the opening slot of the Indian batting order and with Sachin Tendulkar on the other end of the wicket, he forged one of the most devastating opening pair in the history of ODIs. Ganguly has also been India’s most successful captain with his uncompromising and intuitive approach to the game. He is also considered a very strong cricketer mentally, and his marvellous comeback in 2006-07 after being dropped is a proof of that. In the IPL, he was the most successful among the ‘big three’ with his composed but explosive batting and accurate bowling.
5: Ishant Sharma
The great Steve Waugh has called him ‘the next big thing in Indian cricket’. When you get this compliment from such an icon, you know that you are doing something right. Ishant got his first break in world cricket during India's tour of Bangladesh in May 2007 but it was in Australia that he really grabbed the world’s attention with his lethal bowling. He hurled deliveries on the upwards of 140 kmph and moved the ball both ways. The way he set-up the Aussi captain Ricky Ponting and dismissed him time and again is a stuff of folklore. He followed the impressive performance in Tests with an equally impressive One-day outing where he bowled with the same intensity and once, even went past 150 kmph to become the country’s fastest bowler ever. He was instrumental in India’s historic win by grabbing the highest number of wickets in the tournament.
4: Yuvraj Singh
If you’re looking for pure batting talent, your search ends with Yuvraj Singh. Even before he turned 19, he exploded into the international scene with a blistering 84 and some awe inspiring fielding in Nairobi against Australia. While his potential as a match winner was easily recognised, he just as easily drew some flack for being complacent resulting in him temporarily losing his place in the One-day side. But on returning in 2002 he immediately kicked into action, playing two match winning knocks against Zimbabwe and he has never looked back since. His knocks against England during the NatWest series is the stuff of legend and his six sixes in a Stuart Broad over is something that will remain in public memory for years to come. He is also a useful bowler in the shorter forms of the game with his slow loopy left-armers.
3: Virender Sehwag
Superlatives are scattered quite freely when they are describing Virender Sehwag’s batting prowess. Early on in his career, just about when he had scored a Test century on debut against South Africa, he was already attracting comparisons with the Sachin Tendulkar. With similar builds, he looks quite identical to the little master when he whips the balls from his hips and punches them off the back foot. But one thing that sets him apart is his audacity. If a ball is there to hit, he will hit it - the stature of the bowler or the situation of the match not withstanding. It is this approach to batting that has led him to being only the third batsman after Don Bradman and Brian Lara to score Test triple centuries. At the top of the innings, his ability to swing the momentum of the match in his team’s favour is unparalleled.
2: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Until a few years back, when all the cricketers were coming from the big cities, not many imagined that we would have one from Jharkhand, let alone one who would go on to lead India to future glories. But that was before MS Dhoni came on to scene. Today, his swashbuckling batting and secure wicketkeeping are the pillars of the Indian cricket team. In 2004, just when India was in dire need of a wicketkeeping batsman, in came Dhoni and captured the imagination of world cricket with dazzling hundreds against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He later went on to lead India to win the World Cup T20 championship in South Africa. His impressive record as an ODI captain remains with series wins against Pakistan and Australia.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni typifies the kind of athletic keeping and savage batting that is necessary to dominate today’s game and his exploits on the field coupled with his rugged handsomeness off it has earned him a fan base rivalling even that of legends like Ganguly and Tendulkar.
1: Sachin Tendulkar
Dennis Lillee probably did India a huge favour when he turned Sachin Tendulkar away from a fast bowling camp, for now we have Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the most complete batsman of the present generation and arguably the biggest cricket icon ever. He made his debut against Pakistan at the age of 16 where a Waqar Younis hit his face and Sachin continued to play on in that innings with a blood soaked shirt. Since then, over the next 20 years he has scored more than 28000 runs, which includes more than 80 centuries in international cricket. The kind of numbers which make even the best batmen feel dizzy. He possesses each and every shot in the book and pulls out a few which we never knew existed from his bag of tricks. Equipped with a keen cricketing brain, loads of experience and sheer loathing for loosing, Sachin Tendulkar is an indispensable player in the Indian cricket team.
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