Ravi Shastri made some bold picks while being asked to name the five greatest Indian cricketers in the history of the game. Shastri made the tough choice of naming the finest to play the sport in the 93-year history of the country playing international cricket, which has seen some of the world’s finest batters and bowlers put up the jerseys in all formats.
Speaking on the ‘Stick To Cricket’ Podcast On The Overlap Cricket Youtube channel with David Lloyd, Alastair Cook, and Michael Vaughan, the ex-Indian cricketers picked two of his teammates from the 1983 World Cup-winning team, which included skipper Kapil Dev as well as batting great Sunil Gavaskar. Kapil remains till date one of the finest all-rounders the world has seen and a rare commodity as a pace-bowling all-rounder, who Indian cricket has yet to replace three decades after his retirement. As far as Gavakar is concerned, his batting genius is second to none. He was the first player in the world to reach the 10,000-run mark in Test cricket.
Shastri went on to pick Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni to complete his list, all of whom were part of the side which won the 2011 Cricket World Cup. While Dhoni is the only captain in history to win all three ICC white-ball trophies, Sachin and Kohli hold the record for the players with the most centuries in international cricket history.
The panellist further questioned Shastri to pick the greatest. The ex-Indian head coach replied with Sachin’s name.
“Definetly Gavaskar. Kapil. Sachin. Virat definitely. I am looking at the most influential players of that era. Bishan would have been there but….. MS again. Bumrah is young. He has got cricket. I am saying the guys, who have almost finished their cricket. 70’s Sunil, 80’s Kapil, 90’s Sachin, Dhoni and Virat.
“I would say (Gavaskar) Batting. Kapil fabulous player. Entire package, number one will be Tendulkar. Because of the expectations. Because of longevity. 24 years. Hundred 100’s. He played every pace attack of that decade. He started with Wasim, Waqar, Imran. Then went to the Aussies, then the English attack. Pure technique-wise,” said Shastri.
Shastri himself played 80 Test matches for India as well as 150 ODIs and was among the best all-rounders the country has seen. In Test cricket, he made 3830 runs with 11 centuries while also taking 151 wickets with his off-spin. He won the Player of the Series (POTS) award in India’s famous 1985 World Championship of Cricket victory.