10 Legends of Indian Cricket

Over the years, dozens of great players have graced the cricket grounds in India and all over the world. 

As a matter of fact, some of the greatest cricket players in the history of the sport come from India. From Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli, these are the 10 Indian cricket legends. Many of them have even impacted the world of online cricket betting too.

Sachin Tendulkar

Widely regarded as one of the best players in cricket of all time, Tendulkar has the status of a cricket God in India. He has appeared in 6 consecutive Cricket World Cups which is the most for any player and holds other records yet to be broken. 

For example, Tendulkar is the only player to score a double century in ODI cricket. He’s also the only player with 10,000 runs in ODIs and holds other records as well. For his efforts, he has been rewarded with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award – this is India’s highest sporting honour. 

Tendulkar isn’t just the best Indian cricket player of all time – he may be the best in the world.

Kapil Dev

A fast bowler and powerful batsman, Kapil Dev was the cricket God in India before Sachin Tendulkar. In 2002, Wisden named him the greatest cricketer of the century.

Dev was the captain of the India Men’s National Team that won the World Cup in 1983. He was India’s wicket leader in both forms of the sport and the first player ever to 200 ODI wickets.

Kapil Dev had an extraordinary career and was rightfully inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2010.

Vijay Hazare

One of the first real Indian cricket superstars, Hazare captained the Indian team between 1951 and 1953.

Indian cricket enthusiasts regard him as the ‘culprit’ for India’s international success and the increasing popularity of the sport in the mid-XX century.

Under his captaincy, India recorded its first Test cricket win ever against England in Madras in 1952-53.

The Vijay Hazare trophy was unveiled in 2002-03 in his name as a limited-overs domestic cricket competition that acknowledges Hazare’s contribution to the sport.

Rahul Dravid

Winner of the ICC Player of the Year award in 2004, Rahul Dravid is another Indian cricket legend with a place in the history books.

He captained India’s Men’s national team between 2005 and 2007. Called The Wall for his incredible ability to bat for long durations, Dravid is only the second Indian batsman (third international) with over 12,000 runs in Test cricket.

He also holds the record for the highest number of catches in Test cricket. When it comes to Indian cricket legends, Dravid certainly deserves a spot.

Sunil Gavaskar

A widely popular cricketer who played in the 1970s and 80s, Gavaskar set world records in his time that stayed active for years.

For example, his record of 34 centuries stayed active for 20 years until the great Sachin Tendulkar broke it in 2005.

His amazing technique against fast bowling and a high average of over 65 against the West Indies is regarded as one of the best performances in the history of Test cricket.

His impeccable career was crowned with the Col CK Nayudy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Anil Kumble

Still the leading wicket-taker for India in Test and ODI cricket, Anil Kumble is one of the best Indian cricketers of all time.

Nicknamed Jumbo, Kumble was voted Cricketer of the Year in 1993. He relied on bounce, accuracy, and pace unlike other players of his time.

In 1999, he became only the second cricket player that dismissed all 10 batsmen in a match.

For his efforts, Kumble was awarded the Padma Shri – that’s the 4th-highest sporting honour in India.

Sourav Ganguly

The great Dada was a massively popular player in his time. Nicknamed God of the Off Side for his preference to stay on the offside, he was one of the most elegant players the world of cricket has ever seen.

Widely regarded as one of the top captains in cricket, Ganguly was a leader like no one else. This is most likely the reason why he was picked as the president of the BCCI in 2019.

MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni is the proverbial cricket superstar. One of the greatest captains of the Indian team, he led the country to victories in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 ICC World Cricket Cup, the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, and more. He has also been a powerhouse while playing in the Indian Premier League during his career.

One of the greatest finishers in limited-overs cricket, Dhoni is a true superstar and the 16th most marketable athlete according to SportsPro’s opinion in 2012.

In 2015, MS Dhoni earned $31 million, becoming one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. There’s even a biopic on his life that shows that Dhoni is one of the Indian cricket greats.

Yuvraj Singh

Singh is, hands down, one of the greatest Indian limited-over players. He was a very aggressive stroke player and was noted for his fielding.

Singh was a member of the Indian Men’s national team between 2000 and 2017, playing his first Test match in 2003. 

Voted Man of the Tournament at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, he was awarded the Arjuna Award by the government of India.

One of the newer players whose career helped popularize cricket, even more, he’ll surely go down in the history books as one of the best ever.

Virat Kohli

Still only 31 years old, Kohli is the top batsman in the world at the moment and 1st in Test rankings with 928 points.

He captained the India U-19 team to a World Cup win in Malaysia in 2008 and has since gone to become one of the world’s biggest cricket superstars.

Often put in the same discussion with Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli’s influence on global cricket cannot be understated.

With still a long way to go until retirement, Kohli will surely become one of the greats.