it has to be sunil gavaskar. first for believing and then for demonstrating that an indian cricketer could be the best in the world in his discipline. of course, the famous indian cricketers before him, mankad, gupte, merchant and hazare received praises from the western cricket crtics. but they were seen as special talents coming from a colony learning its first steps in international sports. we've seen all those patronizing, stereotyping terms. "oriental" "wristy magic" "not one christian stroke" (on ranji) for decades.
gavaskar didnt need anyone to patronize him. he went about doing his business believing he was the best in the world. he didnt want to go the vishwanath or bedi way. stylish, graceful, but one rung below greatness. no. that wont do for him. sunil gavaskar brought bloody mindedness to indian cricket. he never shirked from a fight. never talked of defeat. never admitted anyone else was better than him in opening in test match cricket (post retirement he did speak highly of hobbs and hutton). he scored runs everywhere and against all the best bowlers in show. slowly, the appreciation turned into awe. acknowledgement of talent turned into respect.
and, boy, did he have an attitude!! if ganguly took off his shirt in lords, it was simply because he had seen another indian before him get away doing worse things. like threatening to throw off a match for an lbw decision he didnt agree/ grind the opposition down with every legitimate tactic available to avoid defeat/ turn the MCC membership down/ call Lords just another cricket ground/
with so many indians doing well in many different fields in this decade we tend to forget the days when the only living indians known outside the country were indira gandhi and sunil gavaskar.
kapil admitted to looking upto him for advice and guidance for a good part of his career. for making them believe indians could dominate fast bowling, he was the inspiration for amarnath, vengsarkar, shastri and, yes, dravid and sachin too.
