Ravi Shastri's top 5 Indian Cricketers of All Time

[sumantra]

Recently read an interview of Mr. Shastri where he has picked his top 5 Indian cricketers of all time. and they are...(according to seniority)

1) Sunil Gavaskar
2) Kapil Dev
3) Sachin Tendulkar
4) MSD
5) Virat Kohli

Mine will have Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid in that 4th and 5th spot. I have nothing against Kohli but I would like to wait a few more years to see if he has surpassed the wall...and I didn't like that name of MSD there...

What are your thoughts?

 

[marc71178]

Best ever ODI keeper batsman and a lock for an World all-time ODI XI - more deserving then the top 2 on the list IMO.

 

[harsh.ag]

Shastri living in Sycophantia.

 

[oblongballs]

Recently read an interview of Mr. Shastri where he has picked his top 5 Indian cricketers of all time. and they are...(according to seniority)

1) Sunil Gavaskar
2) Kapil Dev
3) Sachin Tendulkar
4) MSD
5) Virat Kohli

Mine will have Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid in that 4th and 5th spot. I have nothing against Kohli but I would like to wait a few more years to see if he has surpassed the wall...and I didn't like that name of MSD there...

What are your thoughts?

He HAD to say Kohli didn't he? It's blasphemous for Indians not to mention Kohli has the best in any such list.

I'd have said Tendulkar, Dev, Sunny, Kumble and Dravid, in that order.

Dhoni, Kohli, Singh, Bedi and Khan are just outside the top 5.

 

[OverratedSanity]

If it's tests only then Kohli doesn't belong yet. If it's all formats then don't know what Gavaskar is doing at number 1. So all in all an odd list.

He's a moron.

 

[sumantra]

If it's tests only then Kohli doesn't belong yet. If it's all formats then don't know what Gavaskar is doing at number 1. So all in all an odd list.

He's a moron.

I believe since it is about all time greatest cricketer, if not exclusively, priority must be test cricket...then Dravid>Kohli quite clearly for me as of now...

Kohli comes in the top 4 of all time greatest ODI batsmen and I don't mean only India...

 

[ImpatientLime]

sorry, can't hear you over the sound of the BCCIs nuts in your mouth Ravi.

 

[weldone]

Surprised to know Shastri hasn't yet put Rohit and Hardik there

 

[Daemon]

It's a perfectly fine list if you don't restrict yourself to one format and don't combine them either.

 

[S.Kennedy]

You're going to have to replace Kohli with Dravid Shastri.

 

[harsh.ag]

It's a perfectly fine list if you don't restrict yourself to one format and don't combine them either.

True. And Dhoni is therefore an acceptable selection.

But it's dumb because Kohli hasn't done nearly as much for Indian cricket as Dravid has. Yet. He hasn't a world cup for India (the 2011 was all about Yuvi and Sachin and Dhoni). He hasn't won away tests for India.

It's sycophantic is what it is.

 

[Daemon]

True but he has won a staggering amount of ODIs for India, and plenty of them single handedly. There's probably a bit of nose browning here with Shastri's list, but it's really not that bad.

 

[weldone]

If you combine formats then should Gavaskar make the list?

I mean the difference between Gavaskar and Dravid in test cricket is not huge - and Dravid more than makes up for it in ODIs, where Gavaskar was a lollypop player.

It's just a list of 5 most popular Indian cricketers, or something like that

 

[Daemon]

If you combine formats then should Gavaskar make the list?

I mean the difference between Gavaskar and Dravid in test cricket is not huge - and Dravid more than makes up for it in ODIs, where Gavaskar was a lollypop player.

It's a perfectly fine list if you don't restrict yourself to one format and don't combine them either.

It's like a mixed list of India's greatest cricketers in ODIs, in Tests and in both.

That's what I'm guessing anyways. For all we know this is Shastri's top 5 Test cricketers.

 

[weldone]

still it doesn't make sense to me - 5 best Indian cricketers should have at least one spinner - whichever way you look at it

Shastri's list has 4 batsmen and 1 allrounder. As I said, it's a popular list and nothing else.

Note: But my initial point stands. I am really surprised Shastri could come up with a semi-serious list like this without mentioning intent guys like Rohit and Hardik

 

[Black_Warrior]

It's a perfectly fine list if you don't restrict yourself to one format and don't combine them either.

Exactly.
It's one thing for us cricket geeks to argue and debate and be specific about formats when discussing these topics but when former cricketers, coaches are asked these questions in interviews, they are not going to go into geek mode and ask which format or weigh Kohli in ODIs vs Dravid/Kumble in Tests.

I think it's a fine list if you think of Indian cricket in general

India's greatest opener, greatest batsman, two of India's greatest all rounders and World Cup winning captains, and currently India's best batsman, potentially their greatest LO batsman.

 

[harsh.ag]

I just think it's dumb to think Kohli has already done more for Indian cricket than Rahul Dravid did. That's all.

 

[vcs]

That list needs more Kumble in it.

Kohli drops out because he's only halfway through his career. He will be there when he's done.

 

[Kirkut]

I just think it's dumb to think Kohli has already done more for Indian cricket than Rahul Dravid did. That's all.

Shastri the cheerleader values intent above anything.

 

[sumantra]

For me 2 words used in this thread sums up this list for me, Sycophantia and Popular...

It's always worth a debate if limited overs cricket should be included in this or not, and if so, how seriously...my take on that is simple, if it is then the players who represented first 40 years of Indian cricket are not taken into consideration, is that fair? we are talking about greatest Indian cricketers of All Time.