Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
born April 24, 1973 in Mumbai,
Maharashtra, India, is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. In 2002, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time next only to Sir Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day international (ODI) batsman of all time next only to Sir Viv Richards. The list was later revised to make him the greatest one-day international (ODI) batsman of all time. In September 2007, Shane Warne, the world-record breaking Australian leg spinner, rated Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with or against. Sachin Tendulkar was the only player of the current generation to be included in Bradman's Eleven, the dream team of Sir Donald Bradman, published in his biography. He is sometimes referred to as the Little Master or the Master Blaster.
After Sir Don Bradman claimed Sachin to be his replica in Test Cricket, one would not make any mistakes to keep the little master out of their top-10 list of best Test batsmen ever. But it seemed that the ICC thought the other way round when it not only kept the Indian Star out of the top-10, but also the top-20 of its list of the new “ICC Best Ever Ratings”.
According to ICC, the Mumbaikar did not deserve to be placed above than the 26th rank in the new “best ever” ratings issued by the board. Whereas Kumara Sangakara, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Kevin Pietersen and Neil Harvey could easily find a berth for themselves in the top-25.
The only Indian who could squeeze himself into the top-20 was Sunil Gavaskar who is just ahead of West Indies’ George Headley.
Sachin early years of cricket
Sachin attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School), where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school days he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who took a world record 355 Test wickets, was unimpressed, suggesting that Tendulkar focus on his batting instead.
When he was young, Sachin would practice for hours on end in the nets. If he became exhausted, Achrekar would put a one-Rupee-coin on the top of the stumps, and the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar would get the coin. If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Tendulkar now considers the 13 coins he won then as some of his most prized possessions.
While at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai circles, where there were suggestions already that he would become one of the greats. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, with Tendulkar scoring a century in every innings he played. He was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Lord Harris Shield inter-school game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who would also go on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Tendulkar scored 326* in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament. This was a record partnership in any form of cricket until 2006, when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India.
When he was 14, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," he said nearly 20 years later after surpassing Gavaskar's top world record of 34 Test centuries. This was in the same year as his first-class debut. Tendulkar never played for any Under-19 teams, crossing straight into the seniors.
Sachin as Captain
Tendulkar's two tenures as captain of the Indian cricket team were not very successful. When Tendulkar took over as Captain in 1996, it was with huge hopes and expectations. However, by 1997 the team was performing poorly. Azharuddin was credited with saying "Nahin jeetega! Chote ki naseeb main jeet nahin hai!", which translates into: "He won't win! It's not in the small one's destiny".
Tendulkar, succeeding Azharuddin as captain for his second term, then led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by the newly-crowned world champions. After another Test series defeat, this time by a 0-2 margin at home against South Africa, Tendulkar resigned, and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000
Sachin Injuries
A chronic back problem flared up when Pakistan toured India in 1999, with India losing the historic Test at Chepauk despite a gritty century from Tendulkar himself.
Although he was in strong form in season 2004, tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar, leaving him out of the side for most of the year, coming back only for the last two tests when Australia toured India in 2004. He played a part in India's victory in Mumbai in that series, though Australia took the series 2-1.
After the 2006 series against England, news of a shoulder operation raised more questions about his longevity. Tendulkar was operated upon for his injured shoulder. In July 2006, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Tendulkar had overcome his injury problem following a rehabilitation programme and was available for selection, and he was eventually selected for the next series
Sachin County career
In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire (Craig White, although born in Yorkshire was the first player to be signed as an overseas player by Yorkshire. He had to be listed as an overseas player as he had already played for Victoria in Australia). Tendulkar played 16 first-class matches for the county and scored 1070 runs at an average of 46.52.
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 177 | 453 | 280 | 540 |
| Runs scored | 14,692 | 18,111 | 23,585 | 21,663 |
| Batting average | 56.95 | 45.16 | 59.86 | 45.89 |
| 100s/50s | 51/59 | 48/95 | 77/105 | 59/113 |
| Top score | 248* | 200* | 248* | 200* |
| Balls bowled | 4,096 | 8,032 | 7,461 | 10,220 |
| Wickets | 45 | 154 | 70 | 201 |
| Bowling average | 53.07 | 44.32 | 59.86 | 42.11 |
| 5 wickets ininnings | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | n/a | 0 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 3/10 | 5/32 | 3/10 | 5/32 |
| Catches/stumpings | 106/– | 136/– | 174/– | 171/– |
Sachin Individual honours
* Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, 2008.
* ICC World ODI XI: 2004, 2007
* Player of the tournament in 2003 Cricket World Cup
* Wisden Cricketer of the Year: 1997
* Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, 1999.
* Arjuna Award, by the Government of India in recognition of his outstanding achievement in Cricket, 1994.
* Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports, 1997-98.
In September 2007, former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne published his list of 50 greatest cricketers ever, in which Sachin had secured the number 1 spot. In January 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggested that Sachin should be conferred with an honorary knighthood for his contribution to international cricket.
Full Name: Anil Kumble Born: October 17, 1970, Bangalore, Karnataka
Major teams: India, Karnataka, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Surrey
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Legbreak
Achievements: Highest wicket-taker for India in ODIs and Tests; best bowling figure by an Indian in a ODI (6-12 against West Indies); one of only two bowlers ever to have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings; only the second player (after Shane Warne) to score 2000 runs and take over 500 Test wickets; Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1996
Anil Kumble has been an Indian Cricket player and Captain of the Indian Test Cricket team. A right handed batsman, Kumble specialized in Right Arm Leg Spin (Legbreak Googly) bowling. He has taken the third biggest number of wickets in the history of Test Cricket, having taken more than 300 wickets in Test matches.
Early Life
Anil was born on 17th of October 1970 at Bangalore, Karnataka. Fondly known as Jumbo, as a kid he joined a Cricket Club named Young Cricketers. He was a very brilliant student and finished his Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering, Bangalore in the year 1991-92.
He started playing First Class Cricket for Karnataka team with a match against Hyderabad in the year 1989, and managed to grab 4 wickets in the match.
Debut in Cricket
Anil made his debut in the One Day International (ODI) Cricket with the Australasia Cup tournament at Sharjah in the year 1989-90, in a match against Sri Lanka. He took 1 wicket in this match, and gave 42 runs.
His Test Cricket career began with a Test Series against England played at Manchester in August 1990. Anil took 3 wickets and gave 105 runs in 43 overs out of which 7 were maiden ones.
The 10-wickets Charisma
Anil Kumble has to his credit the fame of having taken all the 10 wickets in a single Test innings. He achieved this rare feat in February 1999 in a Test match played against Pakistan in Delhi. Apart from Jim Laker, he has been the only bowler in the world to have done so till date.
Days of Captaincy
He also represented the Test Cricket team of India in the year 2007 when the reigning Captain Rahul Dravid resigned from the post. He led India to Test Series against Pakistan and Australia, in which the National team won by 1-0 and lost by 1-2 respectively.
Vital Statistics
Throughout his Test Cricket career, Anil Kumble played 132 Test matches in which he managed to grab 619 wickets at the loss of 18355 runs, with an average of 29.65 runs. During his Test career he scored 2506 runs with an average of 17.77 runs. His highest score in Test Cricket was 110 not out.
As far as One Day International (ODI) Cricket is concerned, Anil played 271 ODI matches throughout his career in which he took 337 wickets giving away 10412 runs with an average of 30.80 runs. He scored 938 runs with an average of 10.53 runs in the ODI matches he played, his highest score being 26.
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 132 | 271 | 244 | 380 |
| Runs scored | 2,506 | 938 | 5,572 | 1,456 |
| Batting average | 17.77 | 10.53 | 21.68 | 11.20 |
| 100s/50s | 1/5 | 0/0 | 7/17 | 0/0 |
| Top score | 110* | 26 | 154* | 30* |
| Balls bowled | 40,850 | 14,496 | 66,931 | 20,247 |
| Wickets | 619 | 337 | 1,136 | 514 |
| Bowling average | 29.65 | 30.89 | 25.83 | 27.58 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 35 | 2 | 72 | 3 |
| 10 wickets in match | 8 | n/a | 19 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 10/74 | 6/12 | 10/74 | 6/12 |
| Catches/stumpings | 60/– | 85/– | 120/– | 122/– |
The Last Moments
Anil Kumble played his last ODI match against Bermuda at Port of Spain on 19th of March, 2007. In this match, he took 3 wickets and gave away 38 runs. His last Test Cricket match was against Australia during the Border Gavaskar Trophy, played in October 2008 at Delhi. In this match, Anil took 3 wickets, and gave away 126 runs combining both the innings.
Anil retired from his Cricket career gracefully on the 2nd of November 2008. He was conferred with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India in the year 2005.
Full Name: Virender SehwagBorn: October 20, 1978, Delhi
Major teams: India, Delhi, ICC World XI, Leicestershire,
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm off break
First ever Indian to score 300 runs in a Test innings
Highest individual score by an Indian in Tests (309)
Highest-ever Test score at over a run-a-ball (254 off 247 balls against Pakistan)
Involved in the highest opening partnership for a Test played away from India (410 with Dravid)
Virender Sehwag, fondly known as Viru, is an Indian Cricket player and considered to be one of the best batsmen India has got. He is a right handed batsman and a casual Off Spin bowler. Sehwag has a number of records to his credit, including the highest score by an Indian player in a Test match that he achieved in a match against South Africa played at Chennai on 26th of March 2008. He scored 319 runs off just 278 balls in the match, which was also the fastest Triple Century in Test Cricket. Sehwag is one of the three batsmen in the world who have scored 2 Triple Centuries in Test Cricket, and scored the fastest ODI century by an Indian Cricketer in March 2009 off just 60 balls in an ODI match against New Zealand on 11th of March 2009 at Hamilton.
Early Life
Virender Sehwag was born on the 20th of October 1978 at New Delhi in a business family. He developed a liking for the game of Cricket at quite an early age, and received his education at Arora Vidya School in Delhi where he started learning to play Cricket seriously under the guidance of his coach A.N. Sharma.
He started playing for the Delhi Cricket team in the year 1997-98, and played for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy tournament in the year 1998-99. In the year 1999 he was selected for the National Under-19 Cricket team of India, and was chosen for the National Cricket team 2 years later.
One Day International (ODI) Debut
The One Day International (ODI) Cricket career of Virender Sehwag began with an ODI match against Pakistan played in Chandigarh on 1st of April 1999, although he just faced 2 balls by Shoaib Akhtar and got LBW out after scoring a single run in this match. 2 years later, he scored 58 runs off 54 balls in an ODI match against Australia played in Bangalore to win his first Man of the Match award. He also took 3 wickets, giving away 59 runs in this match.
Test Debut
Sehwag debuted in Test Cricket with a Test match against South Africa played at Bloemfontein on 3rd of November 2001. He played an impressive 105 runs in the first innings and 31 runs in the second innings of the match, although he took no wickets and gave away 22 runs in the match.
He is known for making huge scores, and the last 11 centuries he has scored have been over 150 runs, breaking Sir Donald Bradman’s record of scoring 7 centuries more than 150 runs in a row.
Overall Performance
In his overall Test Cricket career till April 2009, Sehwag has played 69 Test matches and has scored 5757 runs including 15 centuries and 18 half-centuries with an average of 50.06 runs and a highest score of 319 runs. He also took 29 wickets in these matches giving away 1265 runs, with an average of 43.62 runs.
Sehwag has also played 205 One Day International (ODI) matches, and has scored 6592 runs in these matches with an average of 34.33 runs and a highest score of 130 runs. He has managed to grab 84 wickets in ODI matches, giving away 3531 runs at an average of 40.58 runs.
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 87 | 235 | 151 | 298 |
| Runs scored | 7,694 | 7,760 | 12,199 | 9,333 |
| Batting average | 53.43 | 35.27 | 50.61 | 34.18 |
| 100s/50s | 22/27 | 14/37 | 36/45 | 14/53 |
| Top score | 319 | 175 | 319 | 175 |
| Balls bowled | 3,249 | 4,230 | 7,988 | 5,835 |
| Wickets | 39 | 92 | 104 | 138 |
| Bowling average | 42.12 | 40.39 | 39.83 | 36.29 |
| 5 wickets ininnings | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | n/a | 0 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 5/104 | 4/6 | 5/104 | 4/6 |
| Catches/stumpings | 67/– | 84/– | 126/– | 108/– |
Virender Sehwag has been leading the Delhi Daredevils team in the Indian Premiere League 2009, as he was the Captain of the team last year too. Under his leadership, Delhi Daredevils have defeated Kings XI Punjab in the Twenty 20 match played on 19th of April 2009 at Cape Town by 10 wickets. Due to rains, the target for Delhi Daredevils had been limited to 54 runs from 6 overs, and they accomplished it in 4.5 overs. Sehwag contributed by scoring 38 runs (Not Out) off just 16 balls to get his team the victory in its first IPL match in the year 2009.
Full Name: Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
Born: July 8, 1972, Kolkata, Bengal
Major teams: India, Bengal, Glamorgan, Lancashire
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Achievements: Most number of Test victories as India captain; more than 10,000 runs in ODI cricket; highest ODI score by an Indian in World Cup; first Indian captain to win a Test series in Pakistan; India captain in most number of Tests
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, commonly known as Sourav Ganguly has been a member of the Indian Cricket team, and regarded to be one of the most successful Captains ever of the Indian Cricket team. As a matter of fact, the Indian Test Cricket team won 21 Test Cricket matches out of total 49 that were played under his Captainship, which is one of the best success rates any Captain of the Indian Test Cricket team has ever managed to accomplish. Not only this, Ganguly, fondly known as Dada by his fans and Maharaj by his teammates, has to his credit the feat of having nurtured a number of efficient players who played under his Captainship. These include Virender Sahwag, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh among others.
Early Days
Ganguly started playing Cricket at a very early age, as he got inspired by his elder bother Snehashish who played Cricket for Bengal. Interestingly, Sourav started playing with his left hand so that he could use his brother’s Cricket gear who himself was a left handed batsman. In his school days, Ganguly was the captain of St. Xavier’s School.
Beginning of the Cricket Career
Sourav Ganguly showed a good performance in the Ranji Trophy season of the year 1990-91. In the year 1992 he started his One Day International (ODI) Cricket career with a match against West Indies, in which he grabbed just 3 runs.
Again in the domestic Cricket he performed quite nicely during the years 1993-95. He scored 171 runs in an innings during the Duleep Trophy tournament of 1995-96 and was included in the national team for the England tour of the year 1996.
Test Debut
Sourav Ganguly made his Test Cricket debut at Lord’s Cricket Ground, in which he scored a century with 131 runs. This has been the highest score a batsman has achieved at Lord’s in his debut Test match.
Throughout his Test Cricket career, Ganguly played 113 Test Matches and scored a total of 7212 runs, including 16 centuries and 35 half-centuries. He scored 900 fours and 57 sixes as a Test Cricket batsman. His highest score in Test Cricket was 239 runs, and the overall Batting Average was 42.17 runs.
In the One Day International (ODI) Cricket, Ganguly played 311 matches and made a total score of 11363 runs comprising of 22 centuries and 72 half-centuries. The record included 1122 fours and 190 sixes, and the overall Batting Average was 41.02 runs.
Successful Captaincy
Sourav Ganguly is said to be one of India’s all time greatest Test Cricket Captains. After the match fixing scandal of the year 2000, He was declared Captain of the team. Under his Captaincy the Indian Cricket team reached the finals of the World Cup Cricket 2003, where Australia beat India to win the championship. During the year 2000-2005, he led the Indian Test Cricket team to 49 matches, out of which 21 were won by the team. He also led the Indian team to 146 One Day International (ODI) Cricket matches, out of which 76 were won by the team. In the year 2004, Ganguly was conferred upon with the Padma Shri award.
The Comeback
Ganguly made a comeback to the Indian Cricket team in a tour match against Rest of South Africa, in which he scored 83 runs leading India to victory. In his first Test Cricket innings after the comeback, he grabbed 51 runs in a Test match against South Africa. He also came back to the Indian ODI team in the year 2007, and in his first ODI innings after the comeback scored 98 runs in a match against West Indies.
Ganguly’s score of 66 runs was the highest in the first round match of the Indian team against the Bangladesh team in World Cup 2007, although the Indian team lost the match by 5 wickets.
He was named the Captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in the IPL Twenty-20 Cricket tournament 2008. In a match played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals during the tournament, Ganguly scored 51 runs off just 39 balls, which was his highest Twenty-20 Cricket score.
Last Moments
Ganguly played his last Test Cricket match against Australia in the year 2008, and scored 85 runs. He played his last ODI Cricket match against Pakistan on 15th of November 2007, in which he scored 5 runs.
Full Name: Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman
Born: November 1, 1974, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Major teams: India, Hyderabad
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm off break
His innings of 281 against Australia in 2001 was ranked sixth in Wisden's list of 100 great Test innings in history
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2002
Vangipurappu Vekata Sai Laxman, popularly known as V.V.S. (Very Very Special) Laxman by his fans, is an Indian Cricket player. Apart from the Indian Test and One Day International Cricket teams, he has represented Hyderabad and Lancashire teams and captained the Deccan Charges team in the IPL Twenty-20 tournament 2008.
Key Attributes
Laxman is a right handed batsman and is famous for hitting spin bowlers mercilessly and maneuvering the ball with ample use of his wrists to the desired corner of the ground. Interestingly, Laxman has delivered his best performance for a maximum number of times against the Australian Cricket team both in Test and ODI matches.
Early Life
V.V.S. Laxman was born on the 1st of November 1974 in Hyderabad, Andhra Prdesh. Both of his parents are doctors, and he too studied Medical Science for a short period of time but quit it later to play professional Cricket in a full fledged way. He received his preliminary education at Little Flower High School, Hyderabad.
Vital Statistics
The beginning of Laxman’s Test Cricket career was made in the year 1996 with a Test match against South Africa played at Ahmedabad. Since the year 1997, he had to change his position in the batting line-up and began to open the innings now.
In a Cricket tour of Australia in January 2000, he scored 167 runs. He found the opening position in the batting line-up not being favorable to him, so he gave up international cricket and returned to domestic cricket again. He stayed out of the Test team for almost an year, and joined again in the later phase of the year 2000. Laxman is not considered to be quite a good runner between the wickets, and has not played in the Cricket World Cup despite having played 100 Test matches.
Throughout his Test Cricket career till now, V.V.S. Laxman has played 105 Test matches and scored 6741 runs including 14 centuries and 39 half-centuries. He had a Batting Average of 45.24 runs with his highest score being 281 runs.
In his One Day International (ODI) Cricket career, Laxman played 86 matches and scored a total of 2338 runs including 6 centuries and 10 half-centuries. His ODI Batting Average was 30.76 runs, with the highest score being 131 runs.
In the Test Match Series played against New Zealand in March-April 2009, V.V.S. Laxman scored a total of 295 runs in the Series, with 30, 200 and 65 runs scored in the 3 matches respectively.
Interestingly he made his debut in One Day International (ODI) Cricket with a duck (zero score) in a match against Zimbabwe in the year 1998, and finished his ODI career again with a duck in a match against South Africa in the year 2006.
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 120 | 86 | 247 | 173 |
| Runs scored | 7903 | 2,338 | 18,434 | 5,078 |
| Batting average | 47.32 | 30.76 | 52.81 | 34.54 |
| 100s/50s | 16/49 | 6/10 | 53/89 | 9/28 |
| Top score | 281 | 131 | 353 | 131 |
| Balls bowled | 324 | 42 | 1,835 | 698 |
| Wickets | 2 | 0 | 22 | 8 |
| Bowling average | 63.00 | – | 34.27 | 68.50 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | n/a | 0 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 1/2 | 0/5 | 3/11 | 2/42 |
| Catches/stumpings | 119/– | 39/– | 261/1 | 74/– |
Born: January 11, 1973, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Major teams: India, Scotland, ICC World XI, Karnataka, Kent
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm off break
Longest streak of consecutive Tests since debut (94)
Greatest number of innings since debut before being dismissed for a duck
The best career test average among the contemporary test batsmen (58.55)
Involved in the highest partnership (331 runs) in the history of ODI cricket along with Sachin Tendulkar vs New Zealand
ICC Player of the Year 2004.
Rahul Sharad Dravid, generally known as Rahul Dravid is an Indian Cricket player and has been the Captain of the team for some time. Owing to his long and steady innings at the crease, Dravid is sometimes referred to as “The Wall” by Indian media and fans. Apart from Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid is the only Indian batsman who has scored over 10,000 runs in Test Cricket, and the 6th batsman in the world to have scored 10,000 runs in One Day International (ODI) Cricket, although 2 other Indian batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly had achieved the feat before him.
Dravid also has grabbed the biggest number of catches in the history of Test Cricket with a total of 182 catches, and has partnered in 72 centuries with 18 different batsmen which is in itself a world record.
Early Life
Rahul Dravid was born on the 11th of January 1973 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh and was brought up in Bangalore, Karnataka. He studied at St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School, Bangalore and St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore.
Dravid had begun playing Cricket at quite an early age, and made a place for himself in the State Cricket team at Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 levels. In the year 1991 he made his debut in Ranji Trophy while playing against Maharashtra. He scored 82 runs in the match, which was eventually resulted in a draw. In the year 1991-12 he also represented South Zone in the Duleep Trophy.
Test and ODI Debut
Rahul made his debut in One Day International (ODI) Cricket with an ODI match between India and Sri Lanka, played at Singapore on 3rd of April, 1996. He scored just 3 runs in the match. His debut in the Test Cricket was made on the June 20th, 1996 with a Test match against England, and he scored 95 runs in the match.
Remarkable Achievements
He got his first Man of the Match award in a Test match against South Africa in the year 1996-97. He scored 148 and 81 runs, which were top score in both the innings respectively. Also, in the New Year Test match played against New Zealand in the year 1999, he scored 190 and 103 (Not Out) runs respectively, achieving the rare feat of scoring a century each in both the innings of a Test match. Till then, this feat had been accomplished by only 2 Indians, viz. Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Hazare.
In the year 2001, Dravid delivered his best performance in partnership with V.V.S. Laxman in a Test match against Australia. The pair together added 376 runs for the 6th wicket, out of which 180 were scored by Dravid while 281 were scored by Laxman.
Dravid scored 4 consecutive centuries against England ( 3 centuries) and West Indies (1 century) in the year 2002. In the year 2003-2004, he raked in 3 double centuries against New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan. He also got India its first Test match victory over Pakistan in Pakistan itself in the year 2003-2004. In the final match of the Test Series being played at Rawalpindi, Dravid added 270 runs to the total, making India victorious upon Pakistan in the country itself for the first time.
Rahul Dravid made the highest total score in the ICC World Cup Cricket 1999, with 461 runs. He was the Captain of the Indian team during ICC World Cup Cricket 2007, although his performance like other teammates in this tournament didn’t meet the expectations of the nation. Personally, Dravid scored 14 runs against Bangladesh, 7 not out against Bermuda and 60 against Sri Lanka in the tournament.
He was also the Captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the IPL Twenty-20 Tournament 2008, although in the 2009 he was replaced by Kevin Pietersen.
Dravid scored 314 runs in the Test Series against New Zealand played in the year 2008-09.
Overall Performance
In his overall Test Cricket career, Rahul Dravid has played 134 Test matches till April 2009. In these matches, he has scored 10823 runs with an average of 52.53 runs and the highest score of 270 runs. While in ODI Cricket, he has played 333 ODI matches till April 2009 and has scored 10585 runs with an average of 39.49 runs. His highest ODI score is 153 runs.
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 152 | 339 | 282 | 444 |
| Runs scored | 12,220 | 10,765 | 22,446 | 15,147 |
| Batting average | 52.45 | 39.43 | 55.69 | 42.54 |
| 100s/50s | 32/59 | 12/82 | 62/113 | 21/111 |
| Top score | 270 | 153 | 270 | 153 |
| Balls bowled | 120 | 186 | 617 | 477 |
| Wickets | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Bowling average | 39.00 | 42.50 | 54.60 | 105.25 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Best bowling | 1/18 | 2/43 | 2/16 | 2/43 |
| Catches/stumpings | 200/0 | 196/14 | 341/1 | 233/17 |
Born: 8th of February, 1968, Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), India
Full Name: Mohammad Azharuddin
Born: February 8, 1963, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Major teams: India, Derbyshire, Hyderabad
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Achievements:
Scored 22 centuries in Test Cricket with an average score of 45 runs.
Scored 7 centuries in One Day International (ODI) Cricket with an average of 37 runs.
Has been the only player to have hit three consecutive centuries in first three Tests
Has been the only player in the world Cricket to have taken 156 catches in One Day International (ODI) Cricket
Got India 14 Test and 103 ODI wins during his captainship, making him one of the most successful Cricket captains India has ever got
Has scored fastest ODI century by an Indian off 62 balls
The first player to have played more than 300 ODIs
Was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1991
Early Life
Mohammad Azharuddin, one of the best known players and captains the Indian Cricket team has ever had, was born and brought up in Hyderabad, the state capital of Andhra Pradesh. He studied in a Catholic convent school named All Saints High School, which has been the Alma Mater to some other prominent Indian Cricketers too, including Venkatapathy Raju and Noel David.
The Batting Maestro
Azharuddin has been most famous for his wonderful wrist flicks that transformed a Cricket match into a poetic creation with aesthetic nuances of a masterpiece. Eventually, Azharuddin showed the best of his batting capabilities against spin bowlers. In fact, John Woodcock, one of the well known Cricket writers had once quoted that asking an Englishman to bat like Mohammad Azharuddin would be like expecting a greyhound to win the London Derby! His smooth and clean batting style was often compared with the same of David Gower, a batsman from England.
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 99 | 334 | 229 | 433 |
| Runs scored | 6,216 | 9,378 | 15,855 | 12,941 |
| Batting average | 45.03 | 36.92 | 51.98 | 39.33 |
| 100s/50s | 22/21 | 7/58 | 54/74 | 11/85 |
| Top score | 199 | 153* | 226 | 161* |
| Balls bowled | 13 | 552 | 1,432 | 827 |
| Wickets | 0 | 12 | 17 | 15 |
| Bowling average | – | 39.91 | 46.23 | 47.26 |
| 5 wickets in innings | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 wickets in match | – | n/a | 0 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 0/4 | 3/19 | 3/36 | 3/19 |
| Catches/stumpings | 105/– | 156/– | 220/– | 200/– |
But as every story has its dark twists, Azharuddin’s life too saw its bad moments. Hansie Croje, the captain of the South African Cricket team who had confessed his role in international match fixing, had taken Azharuddin’s name regarding his involvement in the scandal. Further, Central Bureau of Investigation, the prime investigation agency of India looked into the matter and found Azharuddin guilty of receiving money from bookies to fix Cricket matches. The CBI also found Azharuddin involved in bringing other players along with him into the dirty game, and as a consequence the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) banned Azharuddin from playing Cricket for his lifetime in the year 2000. Ironically, Azharuddin had played 99 Test Cricket matches in his life till then and was on the verge to enter the coveted 100 Test Cricket Club. Although the ban was lifted in the year 2006, he couldn’t make the dream come true.
Full Name: Kapildev Ramlal Nikhanj
Born: January 6, 1959, Chandigarh
Major teams: India, Haryana, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium
Achievements:
Captained India to World Cup victory in 1983
Broke Richard Hadlee's record of 431 wickets in Test cricket
Scored first ODI century by an Indian
Only cricketer to score 4,000 Test runs and take 400 wickets
Named Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden
Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj has been a Indian Cricket player, and is said to be one of the all time greatest all-rounders to have existed in the world of Cricket. Kapil also served the Indian Cricket team as its Captain, and is famous for being the only Captain of the Indian Cricket team that led it to win a World Cup Cricket Trophy in the year 1983.
Early Life
Kapil Dev was born on the 6th of January 1959 at Chandigarh, India. He began his Cricket career in Domestic Cricket from the Haryana team, with a match played against Punjab team in November 1975. Kapil took 6 wickets in the match and helped Haryana to win the match.
Domestic Cricket Career
Kapil gave his best performance of his initial times in a match against Bengal, in which he took 7 wickets giving only 20 runs within just 9 overs in the second innings. Although Haryana was beat by Bombay team in the quarterfinals, his performance brought his talent under the limelight.
Debut
He debuted the Test Cricket with a match played against Pakistan at Faisalabad in the year 1978. During the 3rd Test match played at Karachi, he scored the fasted half-century made by any Indian cricketer off just 33 balls.
Kapil’s One Day International (ODI) debut was made on 1st of October 1978 in a match played against Pakistan at Quetta. He scored 13 runs and took 1 wicket giving 27 runs in the match.
Captaincy
He was made the Captain of the Indian Cricket team in the year 1982-83 for a match against Sri Lanka. He began as a regular Captain of the team with the tour of West Indies.
World Cup 1983
During the 1983 World Cup, Kapil scored a huge 175 runs off 138 balls against a crucial match against Zimbabwe. India won this match by 31 runs and went on to win its only World Cup Trophy. This innings played by Kapil has been regarded as one of the Top 10 ODI Batting Performances of all times by the Wisden magazine.
After the World Cup victory, the Indian team lost its grip and faced some bad defeats due to which Kapil was removed from the Captain’s seat and Sunil Gavaskar again became the Captain in the year 1984. Again in March 1985 Kapil got the Captaincy back and led India to World Cup 1987. India lost to Australia in the Semi-Finals, and Kapil’s Captaincy came to a permanent end.
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 131 | 225 | 275 | 309 |
| Runs scored | 5248 | 3783 | 11356 | 5461 |
| Batting average | 31.05 | 23.79 | 32.91 | 24.59 |
| 100s/50s | 8/27 | 1/14 | 18/56 | 2/23 |
| Top score | 163 | 175* | 193 | 175* |
| Balls bowled | 27740 | 11202 | 48853 | 14947 |
| Wickets | 434 | 253 | 835 | 335 |
| Bowling average | 29.64 | 27.45 | 27.09 | 27.34 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 23 | 1 | 39 | 2 |
| 10 wickets in match | 2 | n/a | 3 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 9/83 | 5/43 | 9/83 | 5/43 |
| Catches/stumpings | 64/– | 71/– | 192/– | 99/– |
In his Test Cricket career, Kapil Dev played 131 Test matches in which he scored 5248 runs with a Batting Average of 31.05 runs. His highest score was 163 runs. As far as bowling is concerned, he took 434 wickets in the Test Cricket, and gave away 12867 runs with an average of 29.64 runs.
Kapil played 225 ODI matches throughout his career, and scored 3783 runs with an average of 23.79 runs, his highest score being 175 not out. He took 252 wickets, and gave 6945 runs with an average of 27.45 runs in his ODI career.
Kapil served as the Coach of the Indian Cricket team between October 1999 and August 2000, but resigned after match fixing allegations were imposed upon him. The Wisden magazine named him the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002, and has been conferred upon with Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards by the Government of India.
Full Name: Sunil Manohar Gavaskar:
Born: July 10, 1949, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Somerset
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
First player to score more than 10,000 runs in Tests
One of the only two players to score centuries in each innings, three times
Highest number of runs in a debut series by an Indian (774 against West Indies)
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1980
Awarded Padma Bhushan.
Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, popularly known as Sunil Gavaskar has been an Indian Cricket player and considered to be one of the all time best opening batsmen in the history of Test Cricket. Sunil is known for having set many batting records that lied unbroken for long years after some other batsman. He was the biggest Test scorer with the biggest number of centuries to his credit during his times. His record of scoring 34 Test centuries took 20 years to be broken when Sachin Tendulkar outclassed it in the year 2005.
Gavaskar was especially quite good against the fast bowlers, and maintained a decent average of 65.45 runs against the super-fast West Indian bowlers. He also served as the Captain of the Indian Cricket team, although the team couldn’t fare much better under his leadership. In fact, during his Captaincy, the Indian Cricket team one played 31 Test matches without a single victory.
Early Life;
Sunil Gavaskar was born on the 10th of July 1949 at Mumbai, and started playing Cricket right since his school days. In the year 1966 he was declared the Best Schoolboy Cricket of the year in India. He had scored 246*, 222 and 85 runs in School Cricket. He made his debut in Ranji Trophy in the year 1968/69 with a match against Karnataka although he scored a duck in the match and was out for a 0 score. But in the next match against Rajasthan he scored 114 runs and hit 3 consecutive centuries in the tournament.
Test Debut;
The Test Cricket debut of Sunil Gavaskar was made in a Test match against West Indies played at Port of Spain on 6th of March 1971. He scored 132 runs in this match, getting India its first over Test victory over West Indies. In the 5th Test match between India and West Indies, he scored 124 and 220 runs in both the innings, helping India to score its first Test Series victory over West Indies, which was not repeated for a period of 35 years to come till the year 2006.
One Day International (ODI) Debut ;
Gavaskar made his One Day International (ODI) Cricket debut in an ODI match against England played at the Leeds ground on 13th of July 1974, where he scored 28 runs off 35 balls.
Captaincy ;
Sunil Gavaskar also stayed the Captain of the Indian Cricket team for some time, but his record as the Captain has not been much impressive, as a bigger number of matches he led the team into turned out to be drawn. He led the team to 47 Test matches, out of which 9 were won, 8 were lost and 30 were drawn. Under his Captaincy, the Indian Cricket team played 37 ODI matches, out of which 14 were won, 21 were lost and 2 went without any result.
Sunil Gavaskar’s last Test match was against Pakistan played at Bangalore on 13th of March 1987, and he scored 117 runs in the match. His last ODI match was against England played at Mumbai on 5th of November 1987, and he scored just 4 runs in the match.
Overall Performance ;
In his overall Test Cricket career, Sunil Gavaskar played 125 Test matches and scored 10122 runs including 34 centuries and 45 half-centuries, with an average of 51.12 runs and a highest score of 236 Not Out. Regarding his ODI Cricket career, he played 108 matches. He scored 3092 in them including 1 century and 27 half-centuries, with an average score of 35.13 runs and a highest score of 103 runs.
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 125 | 108 | 348 | 151 |
| Runs scored | 10122 | 3092 | 25834 | 4594 |
| Batting average | 51.12 | 35.13 | 51.46 | 36.17 |
| 100s/50s | 34/45 | 1/27 | 81/105 | 5/37 |
| Top score | 236* | 103* | 340 | 123 |
| Balls bowled | 380 | 20 | 1953 | 108 |
| Wickets | 1 | 1 | 22 | 2 |
| Bowling average | 206.00 | 25.00 | 56.36 | 40.50 |
| 5 wickets ininnings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | n/a | 0 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 1/34 | 1/10 | 3/43 | 1/10 |
| Catches/stumpings | 108/– | 22/– | 293/– | 37/– |
Sunil Gavaskar has been conferred upon Padma Bhushan, and had been appointed the honorary Sheriff of Mumbai in the year 1994. Having written 4 books upon Cricket, he has also been named the advisor of the Indian Cricket team, and the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. In his honor, a Test Cricket Series between India and Australia has been named jointly after him and the Australian Cricketer Allan Border, as Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
