Cricket, though not the national sport yet has the largest fanbase in India. Started by the British just in order to get some extra tax from the colonies of British India turned out to be their worst mistake ever, as we have been defeating them since then with the best teams that we’ve created.
From houseful stadiums to people wishing to create a new religion called cricket, why do you think that the sport has so many fans across the world? Why do people spend so much money to sit in the stadium and watch cricket? How was it able to overtake the trend of an Englishman’s game to a local’s game? Yes and so here are to look into the 10 most famous Indian cricketers of all time.
Table of Contents
Famous Indian Cricketers of All Time
Sachin Tendulkar
Okay, so this person is all behind the idea as to why people wanted cricket to be the religion. Have you come across the term wherein a person held a placard high and there was something like this written on the placard – “If Cricket was my religion, then Sachin is my God” so you can understand the level of happiness and excitement when Sachin is on the ground.
Also known as Master Blaster, Sachin is regarded as the best cricketer ever in the history of the game. He is the only one who has scored more than thirty thousand runs in international cricket while hitting two centuries at once in the One Day International game of cricket.
If one has to write about Sachin then even pages won’t be enough so will tell you some quick facts about Sachin. He has his own statue in Madame Tussauds, Had a postal stamp that was issued by the government of India during his 200th Test match. He has been the recipient of two of the highest civilian honours by the government of India that is Arjuna Award and Barat Ratna.
Not only these two but various national awards and other awards by different companies and organizations have been conferred to him. His autobiography was listed to be in the Limca Book of World Records as it had more than one lakh, fifty thousand, two hundred and eighty-nine copies confirmed even before it was released.
This picture of Sachin waiting at the bowler’s end has been taken from the official Wikipedia page of Sachin Tendulkar, the Famous Indian Cricketers
Harmanpreet Kaur
Born in the spring of 1989 this young cricketer brings the wavy warmth of spring with her when she’s on the ground. Just like how it goes for Virat Kohli, in a way when the opening batsmen mess up on the field and everyone goes like Where is Virat? In the same way, when the cricketers become a flop during the opening of the match in the women’s test series, everyone goes like where is Harmanpreet? And that is the main reason why she is called the female counterpart of Virat Kohli.
Her skills on the ground show it all. She has also been conferred with the Arjuna award in 2017 and she has also made her debut as a captain in the final round of the Asia Cup and yes she came back with the cup. She is also the very first player or cricketer from India who has represented India for a hundred international matches.
This picture of Kaur on the ground has been taken from the official Wikipedia page of Harmanpreet Kaur, the Famous Indian Cricketers
Shefali Verma
How many of us know about this young cricketer who is often compared to Virender Sehwag? She is said to the youngest player to be admitted to the Women’s Cricket Team. Want to know her age? Well, she was just fifteen years old when she entered into the game of cricket and the reason why she is often called out to be playing like Virender Sehwag is the reason that she starts to play with a full swing from the time she holds the bat in her hand. She was also put in the first position as the best batter in the T20 cricket series of the women category. She is the youngest to play in a Women’s World Cup.
This picture of Shefali hitting a six at ICC Women’s T20 is taken from the official Wikipedia page of Shefali Verma, the Famous Indian Cricketers
VVS Laxman
Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman or VVS Laxman (famous Indian cricketers) whichever name he is fondly called with may not be the best batsman in the history of cricket but Sachin Tendulkar had accepted in an interview that he had learnt some batting techniques from Laxman himself. Wow! Isn’t that beautiful to hear that the legend himself learnt some styles from this guy. He is a part of the Cricket Advisory Team in BCCI which consists of the three very legends of cricket one was him, while the other two were Sachin and Saurav Ganguly.
VVS Laxman is a right-handed batsman and has become a commentator in cricket as of one after he retired from the game. He is known for his style of elegance with which he bats the ball. He was conferred with Padma Shri in 2011. Though he runs very slow in between the wickets still was amongst Wisden’s 5 best cricketers for the year 2002. He was a skilful bowler who knew to distract the attention of his opponent batsman with his bowling skills.
This picture of VVS Laxman has been taken from his official Wikipedia Site of the Famous Indian Cricketers
Smriti Mandhana
Do you know about those jet starter packs in games that you get like Subway surfer that gives you a jet start? Yes, we know about it right. Now you’d be thinking as to why I have been using this in here. That’s basically because Smriti Mandhana (famous Indian cricketers) is that jet starter pack of cricket. She is an amazing opener who gives a very strong and smart start to the game.
As always the first impression is the best impression and she never fails to make one. You’d be surprised to know that she holds the fourth position in the ICC’s ODI ranking and has also been conferred with the Arjuna award for her excellent playing style. She has also won the accolade of the International Women Cricketer of the Year 2019. All set by 2020, she has also been named to be in the Indian team that will be going for the next women’s world cup soon enough.
This picture of Smriti Mandhana has been taken from her official Wikipedia site of the Famous Indian Cricketers
Kapil Dev
The fast bowler, hard-hitting middle ground batsman, greatest all-rounders and the best team captain Kapil dev (famous Indian cricketers) has made it to all. Born in 1959, this man led India to win the third Cricket world cup title in 1983. He was named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002.
He is known to be the highest wicket-taker in two of the major forms of cricket that are test series and ODI. He is also known to be the only cricketer in the world to have taken 400 wickets and more than 5000 runs. And thus in 2010, he was added to the ICC cricket hall of fame.
He is a right-arm fast-paced bowler with graceful actions and a potent swing bowler. He remained In’s only strike bowler for most of his career. He later learnt the inswinger style that is a type of ball delivery used by swing bowlers only.
He was nicknamed the Haryana Hurricane and represented in domestic cricket as well. He has won the Arjuna award in 1979, Padma Shri in 1980, Padma Bhushan in 1991 and various other awards. A film on him is also being made featuring the historic win a Lords, named 83.
Credits – Kapil Dev’s official wikipedia site of the Famous Indian Cricketers
Shantha Rangaswamy
Born in 1954 this lady is the first-ever woman recipient of the Arjuna award, who has played 19 Women’s One-day Internationals and has also led to the team’s first-ever victory in 1976 in Women’s Test Cricket. She’s a right arm batter, and she was the 1st Indian woman cricketer who scored a century against New Zealand in the women’s world cup.
In 2019 she became the first Indian female cricketer to have represented the Indian Cricketers association and also the BCCI Apex Council. She was also the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award for women by the BCCI.
Credits – Shantha Rangaswamy’s official wikipedia site of the Famous Indian Cricketers
Virat Kohli
This name needs no introduction right! Born in 1988, he’s the present captain of the Indian team. Kohli is called the best contemporary cricketer and he is a right top-order batsman. He plays for Royal Challengers in IPL and has been their captain since 2013. He is the top-ranked ODI batsman and also ranks in the 2nd position for Test Crickets in the world with 879 points. He even captained the under 19 World Cup and led them to victory in Malaysia in the year 2008.
He won the Arjuna award in 2013 and the Padma Shri in 2017 and The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award the highest sporting honour in 2018. He is also one of the world’s famous athletes according to ESPN.
He is an aggressive batsman with strong technical skills. He bats with a slightly open chest stance and a bottom hand grip and also has quick footwork. He is especially known for his ability to pace an innings, wide range of shots and batting under pressure. He’s also won the people’s choice awards for a favourite sportsperson in 2012. the Famous Indian Cricketers
Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj (famous Indian cricketers) is no unfamiliar name. For those equals, she is an Indian cricketer who’s also the captain of the national women’s cricket team. She’s the right-handed opening bowler and an occasional right-arm break bowler. She’s the only woman to have the highest runs taken in International cricket and also crossed the 6000 run mark in Women’s one day International. She’s the first player from India to score 2000 runs in T20Is.
She has also been a recipient of various awards; won Padma Shri in 2015, the Arjuna award in 20003 and also the Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World in 2017. She was appointed as the consultant for India’s women’s national cricket team and has played as a player-coach. She is nicknamed the “Lady Tendulkar of the Indian Women’s cricket”. She holds the record for the most consecutive Women’s One-day Internationals for a team.
MS Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (famous Indian cricketers) isn’t anymore just a name, it’s an emotion. He is a former International cricketer and captained the National Cricket team in limited-overs from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He’s a right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, he’s known as the highest run taker in the One Day Internationals with more than 10,000 runs in his account and is also known as an effective ‘finisher’ in limited over formats. He is regarded as the greatest wicket keepers and captains in the history of the game. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India won the 2011 World Cup.
He first appeared as the lower order attacking batsman, but later changed after growing pressure and after he became the captain of the team. He uses the helicopter shots and also is one of the fastest men running in between wickets. He holds the world record for the highest stumpings by a wicketkeeper in the world. Under his captaincy, India topped the Test Cricket rankings in 2009.
He has won Padma Bhusan in 2018, Padma Shri in 2009, and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2007, which are some of the highest national honours. Other than these he’s also won sports and other honours too. How many of us can deny the fact that we haven’t seen the biopic called MS Dhoni, an untold story? None of us can deny right that’s how famous he is. He played for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
Conclusion
These cricketers have taught us different lessons over a period of time and we need to know that the game ain’t as easy as it looks but they have gone against the winds and proved their worth. They’re not just examples for the country but also assets for the country, who make us proud every day with their skills and their game. Lord’s is called the Mecca of cricket but with these captains, we can turn over the saying to turn India into the Mecca of cricket. Thus, here was our list of 10 famous Indian cricketers of all time.
