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10 greatest Indian batsmen ever

Ab Fan

Senior Test Player
Joined
Sep 24, 2015
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Below I have compiled a list of top 10 greatest batsmen to have come from India:-

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. KS Ranjitsinghji
3. Sunil Gavaskar
4. Vijay Hazare
5. Vijay Merchant
6. Rahul Dravid
7. Mohinder Amarnath
8. Virender Sehwag
9. Virat Kohli
10. Cheteshwar Pujara

The names that miss out are VVS Laxman, Gundappa Vishwanath, Mohammad Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar, Poli Umrigar and Saurav Ganguly.
 
Sachin Tendulkar
Sunil Gavaskar
Virat Kohli
Vijay Merchant
GR Vishwanath
Rahul Dravid
Dilip Vengsarkar
Vijay Hazare
VVS Laxman
Virender Sehwag

Honorable mention - Mohinder Amarnath
 
Bhaijaan's 10 Greatest Indians who ever batted (excluding active cricketers) :-


1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Ranjitsinhji
4. Vijay Merchant
5. Vijay Hazare
6. Rahul Dravid
7. Gundappa Vishwanath
8. Mohammad Azharuddin
9. Virender Sehwag
10. Polly Umrigar


By the end of 2030, I expect to see Kohli in Top 5 and KL Rahul in Top 10
 
Bhaijaan's All Time Indian Test batting line up:-


Sunil Gavaskar
Vijay Merchant
Ranjitsinhji
Sachin Tendulkar
Vijay Hazare
Farookh Engineer
Kapil Dev
Mohammad Shami
Zaheer Khan (away) / Erapalli Prasanna (home)
Bishen Singh Bedi
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
 
1) Sachin Tendulkar
2) Virat Kohli
3) Sunil Gavaskar
4) Rahul Dravid
5) Saurav Ganguly
6) Rohit Sharma
7) VVS Laxman
8) Kapil Dev
9) Virender Sehwag
10) Yuvi Singh

Closely missed out MSD, Raina, etc.
 
Bhaijaan's All Time Indian Test batting line up:-


Sunil Gavaskar
Vijay Merchant
Ranjitsinhji
Sachin Tendulkar
Vijay Hazare
Farookh Engineer
Kapil Dev
Mohammad Shami
Zaheer Khan (away) / Erapalli Prasanna (home)
Bishen Singh Bedi
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar

Do you mean by ATG Indian test team?
 
1. Tendulkar
2. Gavaskar
3. Dravid
4. Kohli
5. Merchant
6. Hazare
7. Sehwag
8. Laxman
9. Vengsarkar
10. Amarnath
 
I'll make it top 20

1. Sachin
2. Sunny
3. Kohli
4. Hazare
5. Dravid
6. Sehwag
7. Laxman
8. Vishwanath
9. Amarnath
10. Pujara
11. Vengsarkar
12. Umrigar
13. Ganguly
14. Merchant
15. Azhar
16. Dilip Sardesai
17. Gambhir
18. Pataudi
19. Borde
20. Sidhu

Sorry Dhoni, Yuvraj. Tests get max importance.
 
If Rohit can have a couple of years of decent success at test level he makes my top 20, easily.

This is a horrible era for Indian batting, only Kohli and Pujara will make top 20 on most people's list. No wonder we are losing so many winnable away tests, our bowling is doing great and I am sure if we do a similar list for bowlers this batch will dominate.
 
Both Rahane and Murali Vijay had the potential to make this list, sadly both declined so horribly after their impressive away cycles. Dhawan never had the game for the purest format.
 
Below I have compiled a list of top 10 greatest batsmen to have come from India:-

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. KS Ranjitsinghji
3. Sunil Gavaskar
4. Vijay Hazare
5. Vijay Merchant
6. Rahul Dravid
7. Mohinder Amarnath
8. Virender Sehwag
9. Virat Kohli
10. Cheteshwar Pujara

The names that miss out are VVS Laxman, Gundappa Vishwanath, Mohammad Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar, Poli Umrigar and Saurav Ganguly.

You don’t think Kohli has surpassed Sehwag?
 
Both Rahane and Murali Vijay had the potential to make this list, sadly both declined so horribly after their impressive away cycles. Dhawan never had the game for the purest format.

Still Dhawan averages 40 which is quite good.
 
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Kohli is still an active player so it is kind of early to rank him in this list. He has potential to get to even #1 if he puts his mind into it, while if his form dramatically slides, he could well feature in lower half of Top 10 maybe. Lets see he what numbers he retires with. Same goes for Smith and for all the people already declaring him best since Bradman when he could well miss out on even Top 25 still.
 
Polly Umrigar was India's scoring record champion until Gavaskar emerged. He's a great of Indian batting who doesn't get mentioned as much as Hazare and Merchant for obvious reasons but he's still a Top 10 for sure.
 
You don’t think Kohli has surpassed Sehwag?

If Kohli retires today, he's definitely behind Sehwag. Sehwag is kind of iconic and a revolutionary. He showed the cricketing world going gaga over Lara and Gilchrist what real aggression meant.

Kohli should surpass in overall terms by the time he retires. I don't think Indians expect him to surpass Tendulkar in tests but if he can surpass Ponting in scoring record and retire at #2, it would still be kind of cool.
 
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Some great lists and compilations by posters here. It only tells us that India have always been a rich batting resource in the last 100 years and nothing has changed in 2020 also.

An amazing cricketer like VVS Laxman who would have been one of the best in the world today doesn't find a place in India's top 10 greatest batting resources tells us all we have to know about.
 
Bhaijaan's All Time Indian Test batting line up:-


Sunil Gavaskar
Vijay Merchant
Ranjitsinhji
Sachin Tendulkar
Vijay Hazare
Farookh Engineer
Kapil Dev
Mohammad Shami
Zaheer Khan (away) / Erapalli Prasanna (home)
Bishen Singh Bedi
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar

Don't forget Subhash Gupte or one of India's greatest warrior of the 40s, Vinoo Mankad.
 
An amazing cricketer like VVS Laxman who would have been one of the best in the world today doesn't find a place in India's top 10 greatest batting resources tells us all we have to know about.

That's totally subjective, there is no way that Laxman can be ranked behind Pujara on any list unless it requires naming batsmen that make one want to gouge one's own eyes out.
 
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Indian test batsman (min 1000 runs and 40+ average)
[table=width: 500, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Player [/td][td]Span [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Runs [/td][td]Avg [/td][td]100 [/td][td]50 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]VG Kambli [/td][td]1993-1995 [/td][td]17 [/td][td]1084 [/td][td]54.2 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]3 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SR Tendulkar [/td][td]1989-2013 [/td][td]200 [/td][td]15921 [/td][td]53.78 [/td][td]51 [/td][td]68 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]V Kohli [/td][td]2011-2020 [/td][td]86 [/td][td]7240 [/td][td]53.62 [/td][td]27 [/td][td]22 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]R Dravid [/td][td]1996-2012 [/td][td]163 [/td][td]13265 [/td][td]52.63 [/td][td]36 [/td][td]63 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SM Gavaskar [/td][td]1971-1987 [/td][td]125 [/td][td]10122 [/td][td]51.12 [/td][td]34 [/td][td]45 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]V Sehwag [/td][td]2001-2013 [/td][td]103 [/td][td]8503 [/td][td]49.43 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]31 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CA Pujara [/td][td]2010-2020 [/td][td]77 [/td][td]5840 [/td][td]48.66 [/td][td]18 [/td][td]25 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]VS Hazare [/td][td]1946-1953 [/td][td]30 [/td][td]2192 [/td][td]47.65 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]9 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RG Sharma [/td][td]2013-2019 [/td][td]32 [/td][td]2141 [/td][td]46.54 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]10 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]VVS Laxman [/td][td]1996-2012 [/td][td]134 [/td][td]8781 [/td][td]45.97 [/td][td]17 [/td][td]56 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]M Azharuddin [/td][td]1984-2000 [/td][td]99 [/td][td]6215 [/td][td]45.03 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]21 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AM Rahane [/td][td]2013-2020 [/td][td]65 [/td][td]4203 [/td][td]42.88 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]22 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]M Amarnath [/td][td]1969-1988 [/td][td]69 [/td][td]4378 [/td][td]42.5 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]24 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]PR Umrigar [/td][td]1948-1962 [/td][td]59 [/td][td]3631 [/td][td]42.22 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]14 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SC Ganguly [/td][td]1996-2008 [/td][td]113 [/td][td]7212 [/td][td]42.17 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]35 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DB Vengsarkar [/td][td]1976-1992 [/td][td]116 [/td][td]6868 [/td][td]42.13 [/td][td]17 [/td][td]35 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]NS Sidhu [/td][td]1983-1999 [/td][td]51 [/td][td]3202 [/td][td]42.13 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]15 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]G Gambhir [/td][td]2004-2016 [/td][td]58 [/td][td]4154 [/td][td]41.95 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]22 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]GR Viswanath [/td][td]1969-1983 [/td][td]91 [/td][td]6080 [/td][td]41.93 [/td][td]14 [/td][td]35 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]S Dhawan [/td][td]2013-2018 [/td][td]34 [/td][td]2315 [/td][td]40.61 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]5 [/td][/tr]
[/table]
 
That's totally subjective, there is no way that Laxman can be ranked behind Pujara on any list unless it requires naming batsmen that make one want to gouge one's own eyes out.

I agree, the more I think I find it absolutely ridiculous to have put Pujara ahead of Laxman. Laxman as a test batsmen was in a league of his own, phenomenal under pressure, always stood up except post 2011 World Cup.
 
Don't forget Subhash Gupte or one of India's greatest warrior of the 40s, Vinoo Mankad.

Whom will they replace in my XI? You cannot have everyone, India's the greatest batting nation ever
 
1. Tendulkar
2. Gavaskar
3. Dravid
4. Sehwag
5. Kohli
6. Laxman
7. Pujara
8. Azhar
9. Hazare
10. Vengsarkar
 
Whom will they replace in my XI? You cannot have everyone, India's the greatest batting nation ever

Prasanna can be replaced by Gupte as former was clearly third best spinner from his country in that generation. Mankad probably loses to Kapil.
 
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Still Dhawan averages 40 which is quite good.

So? Even Rohit averages over 45. Stats don't capture the full picture. Vishy and Jimmy averaged in low 40s, Pakistan's Asif Iqbal averaged 39, like the Aussie legend Victor Trumper.
 
An Indian XI for overseas tour( outside Asia) should be

Sunil Gavaskar
Vijay Merchant
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Mohinder Amarnath
Vijay Hazare(c)
Farokh Engineer(wkt)
Kapil Dev
Zaheer Khan
Jasprit Bumrah
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar

At home,

Sunil Gavaskar
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli(c)
Kapil Dev
MS Dhoni (wkt)
Ravi Ashwin
Anil Kumble
Bishan Singh Bedi
Mohammad Shami/ Javagal Srinath

On doctored Indian rank turners, even the greatest will struggle :)))
 
If Kohli retires today, he's definitely behind Sehwag. Sehwag is kind of iconic and a revolutionary. He showed the cricketing world going gaga over Lara and Gilchrist what real aggression meant.

Kohli should surpass in overall terms by the time he retires. I don't think Indians expect him to surpass Tendulkar in tests but if he can surpass Ponting in scoring record and retire at #2, it would still be kind of cool.

Why don't Indians think?
 
So? Even Rohit averages over 45. Stats don't capture the full picture. Vishy and Jimmy averaged in low 40s, Pakistan's Asif Iqbal averaged 39, like the Aussie legend Victor Trumper.

Dhawan has proved in Newzealand tour 2014 that he can bat which something Rohit hasn't done yet outside Asia.
Iam not saying he is great in test but you are telling that he can't bat in tests which is unacceptable.
 
Below I have compiled a list of top 10 greatest batsmen to have come from India:-

.

You were born yesterday, child!

Else you would have known that K.S.Duleepsinhji, who averaged 58.5 with the bat was possibly the greatest Indian batsman ever.

Here is my list

1. K.S.Duleepsinhji
2. Vijay Hazare
3. Vijay Merchant
4. Polly Umrigar
5. Sunil Gavaskar
6. Sachin Tendulkar
7. Rahul Dravid
8. Virender Sehwag
9. Virat Kohli
10.Cheteshwar Pujara

The also-rans:
M.A.K.Pataudi, M.L.Jaisimha, Gundappa Vishwanath, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, M.S.Dhoni, Saurav Ganguly, V.V.S.Laxman and M.Azharuddin,
 
You were born yesterday, child!

Else you would have known that K.S.Duleepsinhji, who averaged 58.5 with the bat was possibly the greatest Indian batsman ever.

Here is my list

1. K.S.Duleepsinhji
2. Vijay Hazare
3. Vijay Merchant
4. Polly Umrigar
5. Sunil Gavaskar
6. Sachin Tendulkar
7. Rahul Dravid
8. Virender Sehwag
9. Virat Kohli
10.Cheteshwar Pujara

The also-rans:
M.A.K.Pataudi, M.L.Jaisimha, Gundappa Vishwanath, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, M.S.Dhoni, Saurav Ganguly, V.V.S.Laxman and M.Azharuddin,

Totally forgot Duleepsinhji..

Will update my list
 
Bhaijaan's 10 Greatest Indians who ever batted (excluding active cricketers) :-


1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Ranjitsinhji
4. Vijay Merchant
5. Duleepsinhji
6. Vijay Hazare
7. Rahul Dravid
8. Gundappa Vishwanath
9. Virender Sehwag
10. Polly Umrigar


By the end of 2030, I expect to see Kohli in Top 5 and KL Rahul in Top 10
 
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You were born yesterday, child!

Else you would have known that K.S.Duleepsinhji, who averaged 58.5 with the bat was possibly the greatest Indian batsman ever.

Here is my list

1. K.S.Duleepsinhji
2. Vijay Hazare
3. Vijay Merchant
4. Polly Umrigar
5. Sunil Gavaskar
6. Sachin Tendulkar
7. Rahul Dravid
8. Virender Sehwag
9. Virat Kohli
10.Cheteshwar Pujara

The also-rans:
M.A.K.Pataudi, M.L.Jaisimha, Gundappa Vishwanath, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, M.S.Dhoni, Saurav Ganguly, V.V.S.Laxman and M.Azharuddin,

Irrespective of stats, Ranjitsinghji remains the greatest and first ever Asian cricketing superstar. Nevertheless,from the second generation, Duleepsinhji was legend also.

Updated list:-

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. KS Ranjitsinghji
3. Sunil Gavaskar
4. KS DuleepSinghji
5. Vijay Hazare
6. Vijay Merchant
7. Rahul Dravid
8. Mohinder Amarnath
9. Virender Sehwag
10. Virat Kohli
 
'Not taking anything away from Gavaskar, Azharuddin...': Lara names greatest ever Indian batsman

During a glittering career, Brian Lara faced plenty of world-class cricketers around the world. There were many who caught his eye and some who he felt were extra special. The former Trinidadian cricketer is himself considered to be one of the greatest batter of all time, but has always remained humble in his approach towards praising other players.

Considering his greatness, many modern-day cricket fans don't realise that Lara has the highest individual score in first-class cricket history with an unbeaten 501 for Warwickshire in 1994. He also is the cricketer with the highest individual score in a Test innings after clobbering an unbeaten knock of 400 not out at Antigua in a match against England in 2004.

Recently during a conversation with Fox Cricket, the 53-year-old was asked about some of the best bowlers, batters he faced during his career, and he had special praise for none other than Sachin Tendulkar. Pointing out that most Indian batters find it easy to score runs at home but are unable to replicate that in foreign soil, but Sachin didn't fall under that bracket due to his 'technique capable of handling anything'.

"Definitely Sachin Tendulkar and that's not taking anything away from pre-Sachin time in Indian batting because obviously they had Sunil Gavaskar and Mohammad Azharuddin. But when you are talking about an Indian player in India, there are a number of them who are going to score a lot of runs against you. When the Indian batsmen left India, there were few who would survive and acclimatize the conditions in Australia or the Caribbean. That was the first thing I saw with Sachin. It doesn't matter where you took him, it doesn't matter the pace of the bowler or the amount of spin that he is getting. He had the technique capable of handling everything", he said.

"I think the Indian public also recognised that. They had this one man right, that would stand up in every condition. I think it was his first Test match against Pakistan, very early in his career. It was in his first, where he actually got hit, I think from a short delivery, not sure if it was Waqar or Wasim or Shoaib, but he got up, dust his pants, he was bleeding as well and he stood up there and batter. That is something not just India batsmen and a lot of batsmen around the world will be scouring to the pavilion to get treatment, you know spend some time back there. I think he showed a lot of guts, obviously his talent, his ability, his technique is something that is picture-perfect. He just blossomed into one of the greatest batsmen of all time, from the age of 16, I think 25 years of international cricket, that is something very special", he further added.

Link: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...atest-ever-india-batsman-101673001608955.html
 
1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Rahul Dravid
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Virat Kohli
5. Mohammed Azharuddin
6. Vijay Merchant
7. Virender Sehwag
8. VVS Laxman
9. Dilip Vengsarkar
10. Mohinder Amarnath


That's among guys I saw play. Never saw Vishy.
 
Bhaijaan's 10 Greatest Indians who ever batted (excluding active cricketers) :-


1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Ranjitsinhji
4. Vijay Merchant
5. Duleepsinhji
6. Vijay Hazare
7. Rahul Dravid
8. Gundappa Vishwanath
9. Virender Sehwag
10. Polly Umrigar


By the end of 2030, I expect to see Kohli in Top 5 and KL Rahul in Top 10

With Virat Kohli’s decline in test cricket, I don’t see any new entry in this list in the coming 10 years unless Gill has a freak decade.
 
Updated list :-

1. KS Ranjitsinghji
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Vijay Hazare
5. Vijay Merchant
6. Rahul Dravid
7. Mohinder Amarnath
8. Virender Sehwag
9. Virat Kohli
10. VVS Laxman

What changed? I became 2.5 years older.
 
Based on watching them play

Virat Kohli
Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Rohit Sharma
MS Dhoni
S Ganguly
Vvs Laxman
 
1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Rahul Dravid
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Virat Kohli
5. Mohammed Azharuddin
6. Vijay Merchant
7. Virender Sehwag
8. VVS Laxman
9. Dilip Vengsarkar
10. Mohinder Amarnath


That's among guys I saw play. Never saw Vishy.

So, you saw Vijay Merchant but didn't saw Vishy?
 
You can add Gill to the list already. Only injuries can get in the way of him and greatness.
 
Sunil Gvaskar
Sachin Tendulkar
Rahul Dravid
Sehwag
VVS Laxman
Kohli
GRV
Ganguly
Mohinder
Vengsarkar
 
Azhar's performance in bouncier conditions is highly questionable. Averaging 19 in WI, 27 in OZ, 23 in SA. Dominated on low bounce pitches.
 
For me,

(White ball)

1. Sehwag
2. Yuvraj Singh
3. Virat Kohli
4. Rohit Sharma
5. Sachin Tendulkar
6. Sourav Ganguly
7. Rahul Dravid
8. MS Dhoni
9. Gautam Ghambir
10. Suresh Raina
 
All formats combined.

1.Sachin Tendulkar
2.Virat Kohli
3.Sunil Gavaskar
4.Rahul Dravid
5.Virendra Sehwag
6.Saurav Ganguly
7.Rohit Sharma
8.MS Dhoni
9.Mohd Azharuddin
10.VVS Laxman

Tests Only
1.Sunil Gavaskar
2.Sachin Tendulkar
3.Rahul Dravid
4.Virendra Sehwag
5.Virat Kohli

ODIs Only
1.Virat Kohli
2.Sachin Tendulkar
3.MS Dhoni
4.Rohit Sharma
5.Saurav Ganguly

T20Is only
1.Virat Kohli
2.Suryakumar Yadav
3.Rohit Sharma
4.KL Rahul
5.Yuvraj / Raina
 
For those interested in recent ones mostly, going by decades the best Indian batters have been :

1970s - Gavaskar, Vishwanath
1980s - Vengsarkar, Amarnath, Azharuddin
1990s - Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly
2000s - Laxman, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni
2010s - Kohli, Rohit, Pujara
 
May rating is based on 70% tests and 30% LOIs for 90s cricketers onwards. For 80s it will be 100% tests and as when they started no one played LOIs. No one would rate Sachin on his T20 exploits. Same logic applies here.

Sachin
Gavaskar
Dravid
Kohli
Azhar
Vishwanath
Laxman
Sehwag
Vengsarkar
Ganguly
Gambhir
 
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