Top 10 Cricketers
“Cricket is a Game which is played 95 Percent in mind & only 5 percent on the Ground”
The essay is on Top 10 cricketers & hence it’s important to understand Cricket first. The Most popular game is Football & no doubt it is an amazing game & even in soccer mind games play a vital part. Even in Hockey mind games play vital part & the statement that i made about cricket about the game of Cricket 95 Percent played in mind & only 5 percent on the ground might also be true & applicable. Prima facie it seems very much likely that it’s applicable to those sports as well as much as i have seen those sports. Because even in those games a lot is dependent upon team players expecting & working on a plan & the opposite teams players also playing a plan & then there is a counter plan & then there is deception. You would see in so many games that while passing a ball in hockey or soccer the one who’s passing pretends to pass somewhere but actually intends & passes somewhere else.
In fact this also applies in Table Tennis , Badminton & many other sports. Obviously it also applies in Chess which is considered as the game in which lot of brain , intelligence & ability to understand future moves is involved. And no doubt about it in Chess you think 50 steps ahead of your opponent. You think each move & you plan counter move then obviously there’s something to pretend & something else is intended.
So we can reach a conclusion that in almost any sports which involves 2 players or teams against each other there will be move , counter move, something playing in mind, something is intended & something is done for deceiving the opponent to achieve the intended result. By saying 2 players what we mean is against each other & not sports like Running where there are many players but the goal of each is just simple to run within their line & to run as fast as possible.
In games like Table Tennis which relies too much on quick reflexes & sharp reactions, maybe playing mind games as we discussed in other sports is not possible to that extent. That sport has its unique needs & it’s so fast paced that there’s not so much time to play mind games as in Cricket or other sports however obviously there’s scope & it’s played to an extent but the level on which it can be done in sports like cricket is not possible.
As such it’s not fair to limit the Cricketers to Top 10 or Top 50 or Top 100 , as there have been many legendary cricketers secondly it is the subjective opinion of the person selecting it as it depends upon knowledge of the game. The Era in which he has been born , the practical experience of playing cricket & eye for the talent etc. Thirdly what is the criteria of selecting the top ten or top 100 is it just the Records? Statistics? That can be done by anyone or whether the criteria is their match winning performances, ability to play under pressure, the kind of pitches & bowling or batting attacks they have excelled?
My criteria for selecting Top 10 cricketers is based on multiple factors their ability to win matches playing in difficult times their mental toughness , my knowledge of the game & practical experience of playing cricket.
Note : it’s important to note that all cricketers are legends & it’s impossible to list out each & every great player.
- Brian Charles Lara :
Brian Charles Lara is undoubtedly one of the greatest batsmen to have ever played the game. For me he is the greatest batsman. He was the most stylish batsman to have ever played the game.
He was left handed batsman from the West Indies, he was marvelous majestic & the most magnificent batsman to have ever played the game. He was so elegant classic mind-blowing player.
He has also served as Captain of West Indies & he was truly a great captain as well.
Brian Lara was such a name that his presence & his name itself was enough to scare any opposition team. He has Scored 400 not out in international test cricket & 501 not out in first class cricket of England. Entire team struggles to score that much score but Brian Charles Lara alone scored that too being not out. If he just kept on batting he might have scored 1000 -2000 runs & even more alone & still might not be out. He was that kind of player.
In one day he used to bat at no.3 initially then went to number 4. If he remained at no.3 or opened the innings he would have scored 15000-20000 runs easily in one day internationals along with plenty of match winning hundreds.
Captainship
He served as Captain for the West Indies & he was a great captain. Unfortunately he didn’t have good team in later part of his career especially after retirement of Walsh & Ambrose no good bowler left. Fidel Edwdrds etc were good but obviously they can’t be compared to the legendary Walsh & Ambrose. Batting wise also apart from Chris Gayle, Sarwan , Chanderpaul, Wavel Hinds not much was there. Marlon Samuels & Darren Bravo were good but can’t be considered as great batsmen. Yet he managed with such team & led them very well.
- Mohammad Azharuddin
Just as Brian Lara was the most beautiful & elegant left handed batsman , Mohmmad Azharuddin was the most beautiful and elegant Right Handed batsman. He was known for his wrist work & he also invented what’s known today as Helicopter Shot. He was such a solid batsman with such a wide variety of shots most of the shots he could play can’t be played by anyone else.
Some batsman when they bat they don’t look like they can get out, he was that kind of player.
Captainship
He led India successfully for a long time. In my book I haven’t seen a greater leader than him. Very few leaders were as great as him.
The beauty about his captainship was Captainship didn’t affect his batting at all. He was very clever and used to talk to bowlers in between, trap the batsman.
He had an eye for talent and he has given some of the greatest legends to cricket. Players like Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman etc.
Fielder
He was Great fielder one of the greatest fielder ever.Just Go and watch the fielding of Azharuddin , you will be Amazed.
- Sourav Ganguly
Cricket is game of Humans but it was once played by a Lion his name was Sourav Chandidas Ganguly.
Saurav Ganguly was mentally the toughest cricketer that has ever played the game of Cricket. I have never seen somebody with similar kind of Mental Toughness & Courage on the Cricket field.
If I want someone to bat to save my life it will be Sourav Ganguly.
He is known as Prince Warrior or Prince of Calcutta but Honestly he is Prince of Cricket or Lion of Cricket.
He was also called the Royal Bengal Tiger.
Just imagine the number of epithets he achieved as a player , nobody in Cricket has ever achieved so much.
Elegance & Timing
He was one of the most elegant batsmen to have ever played the game. His timing of the Cricket shot was so beautiful.
Technically Best
Albeit many people regard Rahul Dravid as technically the best , but those who know Cricket in depth with practical experience of playing would say Sourav Ganguly as Technically the best batsman.
No doubt Rahul Dravid was a great player & is a legend but technically can’t be regarded as better than Sourav.
Mental Toughness
Nobody in Cricket has ever played with as much pressure as Sourav has. His comeback was intentionally given in South Africa where the entire Indian team was struggling. Greg Chappel thought Sourav would fail like the rest of the team & then they could drop him forever. But what happened is History. The reason why Greg Chappel failed in his Trap was because he couldn’t understand the Real Cricket of Sourav.
Best Opener
He was the Best Opener opening batsman of India & the number of Partnerships he had with Sachin is still unforgettable.
However problems started when Sehwag came in the team & Sourav asked the team opinion who should open Sachin & Sourav or Sachin & Sehwag. The team players aren’t having vision like the Captain so they said Sachin & Sehwag. That’s actually Sourav’s fault of Sourav to be honest as a Captain. He should not have asked the Opinion in the first place and if he did he didn’t have to follow it.
Why was it a Wrong Decision?
This is because Sourav is a Natural opening batsman not like some others who were made openers. Technically the best batsman should always open the innings hence Sourav should have.
Sachin & Shewag can play at number 3 & Still contribute to the team but the kind of player Saurav Ganguly was he can’t contribute at any other number than opening batsman.
That resulted in bad patch of his career & then Greg came & Sourav was out of the team.
Comeback King
Sourav is also regarded as Comeback King , the decision of dropping him from the team was questioned by all across the cricket globe. The entire cricketing fraternity was shocked & they expressed their disgust at dropping Sourav .
Actually the entire cricketing world could realise what Indian selectors couldn’t realise. There was dirty politics behind dropping him . Politics which was played by Greg Chappel. Nevertheless Sourav Ganguly came as Roaring Lion & made a splendid comeback in South Africa. He went on to be the highest run scorer for India yet he was dropped from one day team & then pressure was put on him to drop him from test squad. Ultimately he got fed up & retired.
A similar story of dropping him happened in IPL by KKR then he again made a splendid comeback in Pune Warriors.
Legendary players like him don’t deserve such treatment & politics. The manner in which Azharuddin & Ajay Jadeja’s careers were ravaged Sourav Ganguly’s career was also cut short. By playing constant drop & humiliation theory.
Underachieved?
As such he has more than 19,000 runs & 35 centuries but honestly he has highly underachieved. He was not player for such records he was player of having 16-20 thousand runs in one day & 14000-18000 runs in test cricket. But he somewhere couldn’t find someone to look after his game, and providing right kind of motivation. Secondly politics played against him also was a big reason.
Bowler with Golden Arm
Sourav was regarded as Bowler with the Golden Arm. He could pick wickets each time there is partnership & each time he comes to bowl.
He was highly underutilized as Bowler even by himself as captain.
Captainship
Albeit he is regarded as best captain he was good captain but there were some weaknesses wrong decisions which hamper the best captain image.
Dropping himself down the order
He dropped himself down that too on the opinion of team mates that to me was the worst decision as captain.
Playing Players who weren’t good enough
He did find some of the best players but he also played some players who weren’t good enough. To me that cost losing a lot of matches.
Sourav Ganguly was one of the greatest players that has ever played the game.
- Inzamam Ul Haq
One of the greatest match winners to have ever played is Inzamam Ul Haq. Nobody had time to play the ball as much as Inzamam had. He is also regarded as Sultan of Multan.
He was cool, calm & composed in pressure, his ability to play match winning knocks makes him great.
Captainship
He was very good captain & served as Captain for many years. He was great in giving all credit of Victory to team & taking all the blame in loss.
- Sachin Tendulkar
One of the best batsman, player with maximus hundreds he scored 100 centuries.
What makes him great is the Hunger to Score hundreds. Many players under achieved but he was a player who achieved fullest to his potential.
Bowling
I haven’t seen more magical bowler than him he was extremely clever bowler & he had ability to pick wickets. Name any player in the world while facing him there would be nervousness or consciousness to play him well. Because he had ability to pick wickets & confuse the batsman.
Captainship
He was good captain but don’t know why resigned as captain. The fact that he resigned goes against him as captain but he was good captain for sure.
- Jacque Kallis
one of the greatest allrounders to have ever played the game of cricket, He was great in all aspects. His contribution to South Africa is Huge.
He would have easily broken Sachin Tendulkar record in test cricket of maximum centuries but his retirement at 45 centuries surprised everyone. To any cricket lover that’s unjust because why will you retire from Cricket just 6 centuries away from the World record when you are super fit.
He did full justice to his talent and he will always be in Top Ten Cricketers list.
- Shivenaraine Chanderpaul
One of the most resilient players who always played in difficult situation & bailed out his team endless times.
He had a very unique stance but it always worked. I believe what his stance did was he knew exactly where his off stump is.
The amount of Contribution he has made as a Cricketer is not a joke. To be successful to such an extent with so much of consistency match winning innings, match saving innings is truly amazing.
He is unsung Hero of cricket.
- Sunil Gavaskar
Playing 7-8 foot tall dangerous west Indian fast bowlers of that era without a Helmet & yet scoring 34 test hundreds and 10,000 runs is simply amazing. Known as little master first batsman to score 10,000 test runs Sunil Gavaskar will always be in Top 10 cricketers list.
- Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble called Jumbo by his fellow players was the greatest leg Spinner to have ever played. Yes you will often hear the name Shane Warne as the Best Leg Spinner but that’s not true. If you mean record than yes Shane Warne. But if You mean impact & fear then Anil Kumble . If You mean success in every condition then Anil Kumble.
Shane Warne was definitely great leg spinner but he comes after Kumble . Shane Warne struggled in India & against Indians, all teams struggled against Kumble on any pitch.
Reason for being the Best?
He spin the ball so less it’s very confusing as batsman it’s always easy to gauge when ball is spinning a lot but when it’s spinning only 15 centimetres within 15 centimetres it’s so confusing to gauge & play.
Bowled With Broken Jaw
Kumble once bowled with broken jaw against West Indies that speaks volumes about his fighting spirit & passion for the game.
Batting
He was good in batting & contributed a lot by batting too. He scored once Test Century.
Captainship
He was good captain he served as Captain he was very good leader.
- Saqlain Mushtaq
As Kumble was greatest leg spinner ever Saqlain Mushtaq was greatest offspinner ever.
He invented The Doosra the ball which spins straight, sometimes he also bowled the Teesra meaning ball which spins the other way. So technically what it means off spinner will bowl leg spin through same action . However his teesra wasn’t recognised by cricketing world nor he made any claims but he did bowl Teesra on some occasions.
He was wonderful flighter of the bowl & won matches for his team. Injuries marred his career but he will go down as the greatest off spinner ever.
Muralidharan is highest wicket taker & great bowler no doubt but spinning the ball to great extent doesn’t necessarily mean being the greatest spinner. What’s your impact on the game, what conditions & opponents were you successful it all comes while selecting the best.
Top 10 Fast Bowlers
- Sohaib Akhtar
The fastest bowler to have ever played the game . He was dangerous & very intelligent fast bowler.
- Glen McGrath
known for immaculate line & length & ability to bring ball in was magical. His bowl which came back in came very sharply. His length was very uncomfortable to play & his line was always on Spot.
- Courtney Walsh
dangerous bowler bowled at very uncomfortable length to play .
- Curtly Ambrose
Known as The Raging Bull one of the Most dangerous bowler to have ever played the game.
- Wasim Akram
Known as Sultan of Swing he was one of the greatest fast bowlers to have ever played.
- Waqar Younis
Known as toe crusher he was dangerous who could hit the toe of any batsman at will.
- Chamunda Vas
Dangerous Left Arm fast bowler his pace reduced in later part of his career but his magic didn’t reduce.
- Mohammad Asif
he was Artist with the ball no batsman could gauge his inswing outswing, he used to swing the ball miles.
- Ajit Agarkar
One of the best fast bowlers to have ever played the game he was wicket taker each time he came he can get wickets.
- Allen Donald
Fast bowler who Smiles he was the only fast bowler who Smiled. But he was dangerous and lethal bowler.
The other great Bowlers which can’t be added here but as great as any in the Top 10. But do find special mention as being greatest .
- James Anderson
The greatest swing bowler who didn’t want to retire but in a way forced to make his choice after new coach came in. I believe it was wrong he should have been allowed to play as long as he wanted.
- Shaun Pollock
Very unique action difficult bowler to play very dangerous for batsman. Also great all rounder.
- Brett Lee
Fast like Akhtar but couldn’t have same impact like Akhtar but he was great bowler. Dangerous to play.
- Kapil Dev
Artist with ball he could swing miles like Mohammed Asif did. Also great all rounder.
- Javagal Srinath
Dangerous brutal bowler many players feared him especially left handed batsman feared him a lot.
- Andrew Flintoff
Dangerous bowler to say the least. Also great all rounder.
- Steven Harmison
Tall dangerous fast bowler could bowl fast & bounce the ball.
- Shane Warne
Highest wicket taker as leg spinner very dangerous spin bowler.
- Muralidharan
could spin the ball miles very dangerous off spinner highest wicket taker in the game.
- Shane Bond
dangerous fast bowler very uncomfortable to play.
- Ajantha Mendis
the mystery bowler no batsman knew exactly how to play him except Shewag being successful against him.
- Sunil Naraine
just like Mendis he was mysterious bowler to play.
Top 10 all Rounders
- Kapil Dev
- Jacque Kallis
- Shaun Pollock
- Andrew Flintoff
- Abdul Razzaq
- Chris Cairns
- Sahid Afridi
- Azhar Mehmood
- Shane Watson
- Sanath Jaysuriya
Top 10 Explosive Dangerous Batsman
- Sanath Jayasuriya
- Adam Gilchrist
- Mathew Hayden
- Virender Sehwag
- Sahid Afridi
- Abdul Razzaq
- Chris Gayle
- Navjot Singh Sidhu
- Ricky Ponting
- Saeed Anwar
Top 10 opening Pair of Batsman
- Sachin Tendulkar & Sourav Ganguly
- Mathew Hayden & Adam Gilchrist
- Saeed Anwar & Amir Sohail
- Jayasuriya & Kaluvirana
- Navjot Singh Sidhu & Sourav Ganguly
- Herschele Gibbs & Grame Smith
- Wavel Hinds & Chris Gayle
- Garry Kirsten & Herschele Gibbs
- Brendon Mcullum & Nathan Astle
- Marcus Trescothic & Michael Vaghan
Top 10 Wicket Keeper
1 ) Kumara Sangakara
2) Adam Gilchrist
3 ) Moin Khan
4 ) Rashid Latif
5) M S Dhoni
6 ) Nayan Mongia
7) Alec Stewart
8) Brendon Mcullum
9) A B deveilliers
10) Romesh Kaluvitrana
Top 10 Captains
- Kapil Dev
- Imran Khan
- Mohammad Azharuddin
- Michael Vaughn
- Sourav Ganguly
- Nazeer Hussain
- Arjuna Ranatunga
- Grame Smith
- Stephen Fleming
- Steve Waugh
Top 10 opening batsman
- Sourav Ganguly
- Navjot Singh Sidhu
- Saeed Anwar
- Herschele Gibbs
- Grame Smith
- Sanath Jayasuriya
- Chris Gayle
- Sachin Tendulkar
- Mathew Hayden
- Adam Gilchrist
Top 10 opening bowlers
- Chamunda Vaas
- Wasim Akram
- Waqar Younis
- Sohaib Akhtar
- Shaun Pollock
- Allen Donald
- Brett Lee
- Shane Bond
- Glen McGrath
- Courtney Walsh
Top 10 dangerous bowling pair
- Walsh & Ambrose
- Wasim & Waqar
- McGrath & Brett Lee
- Sohaib Akhtar & Mohammed Asif
- Kapil Dev & Javagal Srinath
- Chamunda Vaas & Lasith Malinga
- Malcom Marshal & Joel Garner
- Ajit Agarkar & Javagal Srinath
- Ajit Agarkar & Zahir Khan
- Shane Bond & Daryl Tuffy
Conclusion
In this essay we saw Top 10 cricketers, & then top 10 fast bowlers & then 12 other bowlers who are as great as top 10. We also saw top 10 opening bowling Pair , Top 10 Captains top 10 Wicket Keeper etc etc obviously there are many more great players who couldn’t be added to the list. It’s practically impossible & unfair to limit legends into Top 10. But in the essay we captured the best & the reason why they were best & better than the rest.
There are many more which could be added by creating separate list. The manner in which top 10 were selected was not by Statistic & records as that can be done by anyone. The purpose of the essay was to make people understand what the game of Cricket actually is & how many great players have played the game.
All the players & many who couldn’t be added here are all legendary players.
By: AMIT LAXMICHAND GALA
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