India's 10 greatest cricketers in last 50 years

[Lord]

1 minute ago, putrevus said:

How was he a great captain again?

Guy literally rebuilt the team after match fixing scandals by backing youngsters.We started winning overseas again under him only. Were too meek in 90s before he took over.

[vvvslaxman]

ABout the team

 

just 4 bowlers in that list  3 of them are spinners. 1 seamer. I am sure there is another seamer like Zaheer Khan can find a spot. 100 more wickets Bumrah will certainly be there. I would put one seamer over Jadeja. Otherwise that is pretty much the team most experts would pick

[Majestic]

7 hours ago, Lord said:

 

He was a great captain but mediocre player. 

 

I think OP is talking about only Tests.

Preference to Tests but taking overall here. For example, MSD is arguably the most celebrated cricketer in the country. Hence, can't ignore him.

[Majestic]

7 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

ABout the team

 

just 4 bowlers in that list  3 of them are spinners. 1 seamer. I am sure there is another seamer like Zaheer Khan can find a spot. 100 more wickets Bumrah will certainly be there. I would put one seamer over Jadeja. Otherwise that is pretty much the team most experts would pick

It just proves that India hasn't produced enough quality seamers. It's the spinners who have mostly been our biggest match winners with bowl - the likes of Kumble, Bhajji, Ashwin and Jadeja( as A/R). Bhajji misses out and so does Shami, Zak, Srinath.

 

 

[Lord]

14 hours ago, Majestic said:

Preference to Tests but taking overall here. For example, MSD is arguably the most celebrated cricketer in the country. Hence, can't ignore him.

Popularity can't be a criteria. Else you have to include Rohit,Yuvi and SKY

[Majestic]

2 hours ago, Lord said:

Popularity can't be a criteria. Else you have to include Rohit,Yuvi and SKY

Dhoni has become like a GOD figure. He is more than just popular or rich.

[BacktoCricaddict]

On 8/18/2023 at 12:42 PM, Lord said:

 

don and count?

Legitimately though - VVS Laxman and Rishabh Pant have to be in there as architects of Eden 2001 and Gabba 2021, respectively. 

 

Like I've said ad nauseum, if you ask me to make an all-India test-team to play one most important match, I would first put down Pant. Then Laxman. Then Gavaskar. We can debate the rest later.

[vvvslaxman]

15 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

Legitimately though - VVS Laxman and Rishabh Pant have to be in there as architects of Eden 2001 and Gabba 2021, respectively. 

 

Like I've said ad nauseum, if you ask me to make an all-India test-team to play one most important match, I would first put down Pant. Then Laxman. Then Gavaskar. We can debate the rest later.

 

Laxman definitely a flawed genius.  He missed out on scoring big runs on flat tracks against Pakistan while amassing 2000  plus runs against ATG aussie team (only guy to do so) over a period of 10 years.

[putrevus]

On 8/18/2023 at 12:57 PM, Lord said:

Guy literally rebuilt the team after match fixing scandals by backing youngsters.We started winning overseas again under him only. Were too meek in 90s before he took over.

What literally built, Bhajji played in 1998, Sehwag came intot he team in 1999 and scored 100 on his test debut.It was either Sehwag in middle order or Ganguly. he could kick himself out so he pushed Sehwag as an opener just like he pushed Parthiv Patel into opening in third test against Pakistan.

 

Indian team was awful in 1990s so they had many slots which were up for grabs.

 

 

[vvvslaxman]

7 minutes ago, putrevus said:

What literally built, Bhajji played in 1998, Sehwag came intot he team in 1999 and scored 100 on his test debut.It was either Sehwag in middle order or Ganguly. he could kick himself out so he pushed Sehwag as an opener just like he pushed Parthiv Patel into opening in third test against Pakistan.

 

Indian team was awful in 1990s so they had many slots which were up for grabs.

 

 

 

I doubt Rahul Dravid could have achieved the same result or Sachin with the same team. Ganguly acted like a drill sergant. Definitely pushed the players harder especially overseas. His only issue was his own form. Also India kept faltering in the deciders. Often times India would take a series lead and fail to close out. IN the mid 2000s he became a bit selfish when he was struggling for form. This particular match drew some attention. Many questioned why he promoted himself when he was struggling for form. India was 120 odd in 13 overs. He completely halted the momentum after that on a good batting deck.

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/pakistan-tour-of-india-2004-05-61525/india-vs-pakistan-2nd-odi-64939/full-scorecard

 

 

I was one of his fiercest critic. But India had an absolutely terrible overseas record for more than a decade.. India's record overseas definitely improved. No doubt about that. Tendulkar's captaincy was horrible as he didn't know how to handle the players. That is where Ganguly was different. Didn't mind being confrontational with his team mates. Sometimes it didn't go well like him yelling at Srinath talking back in West Indies. But he did get some results.

 

H/A/N	Won	Lost	Drawn	W/L Ratio
Azharuddin
Home	13	4	3	3.25
Away	1	10	6	0.1
Tendulkar
Home	4	3	5	1.33
Away	0	6	7	0
Ganguly
Home	10	3	8	3.33
Away	11	10	7	1.1
Dravid
Home	7	7	11	1
Away	5	4	8	1.25
Kumble
Home	5	3	6	1.666
Away	3	5	6	0.6
MSD
Home	21	3	6	7
Away	6	15	0	0.4
Kohli
Home	24	3	5	8
Away	16	15	6	1.066

[Lord]

1 hour ago, putrevus said:

What literally built, Bhajji played in 1998, Sehwag came intot he team in 1999 and scored 100 on his test debut.It was either Sehwag in middle order or Ganguly. he could kick himself out so he pushed Sehwag as an opener just like he pushed Parthiv Patel into opening in third test against Pakistan.

 

Indian team was awful in 1990s so they had many slots which were up for grabs.

 

 

Sehwag,Bhajji,Yuvi, Zak, Nehra all came into prominence under him.He backed them and fought for their selection.

 

There is no point messing batting position of established players. Only vacant place was opening. Ans Sehwag was told he'll play there for 10 Tests irrespective of results.

[putrevus]

34 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

I doubt Rahul Dravid could have achieved the same result or Sachin with the same team. Ganguly acted like a drill sergant. Definitely pushed the players harder especially overseas. His only issue was his own form. Also India kept faltering in the deciders. Often times India would take a series lead and fail to close out. IN the mid 2000s he became a bit selfish when he was struggling for form. This particular match drew some attention. Many questioned why he promoted himself when he was struggling for form. India was 120 odd in 13 overs. He completely halted the momentum after that on a good batting deck.

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/pakistan-tour-of-india-2004-05-61525/india-vs-pakistan-2nd-odi-64939/full-scorecard

 

 

I was one of his fiercest critic. But India had an absolutely terrible overseas record for more than a decade.. India's record overseas definitely improved. No doubt about that. Tendulkar's captaincy was horrible as he didn't know how to handle the players. That is where Ganguly was different. Didn't mind being confrontational with his team mates. Sometimes it didn't go well like him yelling at Srinath talking back in West Indies. But he did get some results.

 

H/A/N	Won	Lost	Drawn	W/L Ratio
Azharuddin
Home	13	4	3	3.25
Away	1	10	6	0.1
Tendulkar
Home	4	3	5	1.33
Away	0	6	7	0
Ganguly
Home	10	3	8	3.33
Away	11	10	7	1.1
Dravid
Home	7	7	11	1
Away	5	4	8	1.25
Kumble
Home	5	3	6	1.666
Away	3	5	6	0.6
MSD
Home	21	3	6	7
Away	6	15	0	0.4
Kohli
Home	24	3	5	8
Away	16	15	6	1.066

His away wins were mostly against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. India rarely got to play in SENA countries , even with stongest he could never force a series even in WI .

 

Australia were missing Mcgrath and Warne  so they were competitive in Australia which I doubt they would have been if those two were present.

 

 

[vvvslaxman]

3 minutes ago, putrevus said:

His away wins were mostly against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. India rarely got to play in SENA countries , even with stongest he could never force a series even in WI .

 

Australia were missing Mcgrath and Warne  so they were competitive in Australia which I doubt they would have been if those two were present.

 

 

 

Mcgrath and warne were not really batsmen.  They were bowlers. India took 20 wickets to win a Test. They had the entire elite batting order intact. They didn't have Marcus Harris, Burns opening for them. They had Haydos, Langer opening.

Edited August 20, 2023 by vvvslaxman

[putrevus]

23 minutes ago, Lord said:

Sehwag,Bhajji,Yuvi, Zak, Nehra all came into prominence under him.He backed them and fought for their selection.

 

There is no point messing batting position of established players. Only vacant place was opening. Ans Sehwag was told he'll play there for 10 Tests irrespective of results.

No Zak got better in 2007, he was first selected under Ganguly.

 

Kumble went backwards under him and not selecting him for 2003 finals was  one of main reasons for that loss.

 

VVS played as opener under Azharuddin and Sachin got more than ten tests. It is just VVS did not click as opener and Sehwag clicked. So Stop giving ganguly the credit as if he was playing for Ganguly.

 

Ganguly was the same coward who at sight of the grass in nagpur feigned injury and sat out of the test.

 

Ganguly kept out Yuvi from team as they both were competing for the same spot.Why couldn't he convert Yuvi into opener just like Sehwag?

 

4 or 5 players coming to prominence under a captain does not make him a great captain, he had the greatest batting talent under his disposal.

[putrevus]

8 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

Mcgrath and warne were not really batsmen.  They were bowlers. India took 20 wickets to win a Test. They had the entire elite batting order intact. They didn't have Marcus Harris, Burns opening for them. They had Haydos, Langer opening.

They were bowlers who would have never let India win in 2003 Adelaide after being given 550 runs.

 

Nor would have India scored 705 if they were bowling. If Ganguly was so great captain he would have won with 705 runs as cushion.

[Lord]

6 minutes ago, putrevus said:

No Zak got better in 2007, he was first selected under Ganguly.

 

Kumble went backwards under him and not selecting him for 2003 finals was  one of main reasons for that loss.

 

VVS played as opener under Azharuddin and Sachin got more than ten tests. It is just VVS did not click as opener and Sehwag clicked. So Stop giving ganguly the credit as if he was playing for Ganguly.

 

Ganguly was the same coward who at sight of the grass in nagpur feigned injury and sat out of the test.

 

Ganguly kept out Yuvi from team as they both were competing for the same spot.Why couldn't he convert Yuvi into opener just like Sehwag?

 

4 or 5 players coming to prominence under a captain does not make him a great captain, he had the greatest batting talent under his disposal.

 

no Zak was good from the start. Played an important role in CT 2000,WC 2003 and NZ series 2002.

 

Kumble started bowling well overseas too under Ganguly. Won us the Headingley Test.

 

VVS was shifted up and down .Was dropped soon and then had to come back in middle order.

 

Yuvi was given chance as opener and failed.Everyone can't do it. Even in middle order Yuvi was a failure in Tests.

 

He made that batting unit. Dravid,Sachin were there before too but lacked support which surfaced under him.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Lord

[Vijy]

2 hours ago, Lord said:

 

no Zak was good from the start. Played an important role in CT 2000,WC 2003 and NZ series 2002.

 

Kumble started bowling well overseas too under Ganguly. Won us the Headingley Test.

 

VVS was shifted up and down .Was dropped soon and then had to come back in middle order.

 

Yuvi was given chance as opener and failed.Everyone can't do it. Even in middle order Yuvi was a failure in Tests.

 

He made that batting unit. Dravid,Sachin were there before too but lacked support which surfaced under him.

there were several players who either debuted or blossomed under ganguly. we also saw first wave of proper batsmen-keepers under him . before that, our keepers struggled to score above 20-30. then we had pappu patel, DK, and then dhongi debut under him. dravid as keeper was also an excellent tactical choice in ODIs

[vvvslaxman]

5 hours ago, putrevus said:

They were bowlers who would have never let India win in 2003 Adelaide after being given 550 runs.

 

Nor would have India scored 705 if they were bowling. If Ganguly was so great captain he would have won with 705 runs as cushion.

 

Yes. Parthiv patel's backing was one of the biggest bludner he made. India did not have Zaheer Khan too. Let us not forget. Won with Agarkar as main seamer.  Even the Perth test later was won without Zaheer. India put their best foot forward.  I very much doubt any captain would have won with Agarkar as your main weapon on a feather bed.

[cricspirit]

My team of 11 and extras including  our greats. Really think this is a nice balanced team for all conditions. 

 

Sunil Gavaskar(1971)

Virender Sehwag (2000)

Rahul Dravid (1996)

Sachin Tendulkar (1989)

Virat Kohli (2011)

Rishabh Pant (2018)

Kapil Dev (1978)

Ravindra Jadeja (2012)

Ravichandran Ashwin (2010)

Zaheer Khan (2000)

Jasprit Bumrah (2018)

 

Missing out

------------

Anil Kumble (1990)

Saurav Ganguly (1996)

VVS Laxman (1996)

Javagal Srinath (1991)

MS Dhoni (2005)

 

If I have to leave out the younger ones because of a smaller career then Pant and Bumrah are excluded.

 

Just the greatest 10 without creating a team thinking about how many bowler/batter/wk then my top 10 in order are -

 

Sachin Tendulkar (1989)

Sunil Gavaskar(1971)

Kapil Dev (1978)

Virender Sehwag (2000)

Rahul Dravid (1996)

Virat Kohli (2011)

Ravichandran Ashwin (2010)

Anil Kumble (1990)

MS Dhoni (2005)

Ravindra Jadeja (2012)

 

Dont really consider Dhoni, Jadeja are proper greats but they get into top 10 ahead of others. Jadeja will probably end up as the second best all rounder for India and Dhoni should have done a bit more in tests for the fame/money/power he got.

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2023 by cricspirit