Michael Vaughan lists out the five best Indian players of all-time

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has listed out the five best Indian cricketers of all-time from the present as well as past generations. There have been many great and legendary players evolved from the Indian contingent including the likes of Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and many more who have contributed in an absolutely spectacular and charismatic manner towards this game. But the former English cricketer rates, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag and Ajit Agarkar, as his top five best Indian players of all-time.

Vaughan’s list and their contributions towards this game

Everyone would agree with the first choice being, Sachin Tendulkar, as the Master Blaster is not only one of the topmost cricketers from India but is a huge personality across the world, who is admired and acknowledged for his numerous contributions towards the game of cricket. He has amassed more than 33,000 runs across all formats which includes a record tally of 100 international centuries at a steadying average. The former Indian cricketer truly delivered everything to this game in his entire cricketing career for which he is also regarded as the ‘God of Cricket’.

The second name in Vaughan’s tally is of, former Indian captain MS Dhoni, who is rated as one the best leaders ever to captain a cricket team. Dhoni has all the three ICC Trophies, T20 World Cup 2007, 50-over World Cup 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 in his cabinet and is the only skipper to achieve these record titles in the entire history of cricket. As a wicket-keeper batsman, he has also achieved greater heights in his career so far, as he has scored more than 9000 runs in the limited overs format and is known as a finisher, Dhoni also holds the record of hitting the most number of sixes by an Indian in ODI cricket.

Talking about the modern master, Virat Kohli has absolutely evolved to be a complete match-winner and game changer for Indian cricket in recent times. His mind-boggling numbers and that hunger to win games in any situations surely gives him an extra edge in comparison to the other modern greats. And now after becoming the captain of the Indian team across all formats, Kohli has led the team from the front with his aggressive nature and the thinking of contributing with the highest spirit is highly impressive.

The fourth name in the list belongs to, Virender Sehwag, who is known to be the finest opener in the history of cricket. The former Indian cricketer is still known for stylish and attacking game, which almost changed everyone’s thought process and gave birth to this aggressive approach towards the game. Many of the current generation cricketers are also keen admirers of his game and they often try to relate to his different cricketing ways. Sehwag has scored over 8000 runs in both Tests and ODIs , which also includes 38 international centuries.

The last name that the former English captain chose is of, former Indian fast bowling all-rounder Ajit Agarkar, who seems to be a strange pick out of the rest, but his numbers and achievements for Indian cricket surely speaks otherwise. Agarkar was the fastest to reach to 50 ODI wickets during his time and was also quickest in terms of matches to complete a double of 200 wickets and 1000 runs. Apart from picking up 58 Test wickets and 288 ODI wickets, the all-rounder also holds the record for scoring the fastest fifty by an Indian player, in just 21 balls.