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Who is the most important player in Indian cricket history?

austerlitz

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Choices -

1.Sunil gavaskar -

The pioneer.The first one of India's truly great batsmen.The epitome of the old bombay school of batsmanship.He gave indian batting pride,respect and self confidence when we were minnows.Stood up to all the best fast bowlers without helmet the little man- arguably the greatest test opener ever.He inspired the next generation of batting legends -Tendulkar,laxman and dravid.He started the conveyor belt.With his emergence india started to win test series away from home from 1971.If kohli is the empire builder and tendulkar the counterattacker,gavaskar embodied the resistance.



2.Kapil dev -

Another pioneer.He showed the world and india that indians could be fast bowlers.He showed that boys from small towns in india outside of mumbai and royal family circles may not speak good english but could captain the national team with pride and passion and lead them to ultimate glory.India's greatest ever cricketer in terms of allround ability .He captained the team to India's most important cricketing win in history -83 world cup.A win that triggered a whole generation of cricketers to take up the sport,including the great tendulkar.He played the most important ODI knock in indian cricket history 175* in 1983 knockouts coming in at 17-5.While we found the successors to gavaskar's legacy,we never found another kapil dev.



3.Sachin Tendulkar -

The boy that lived up to the hype.The heir to gavaskar's throne and the model for all indian batsmen to follow.Arguably a contender for the GOAT all round batsman.Insane longevity despite numerous bad injuries and insane consistency.And he was divine to watch.For the indian public he became the bhisma pitamah of team india.The one constant that never changed for 2.5 decades.Tendulkar represents an emotion for the indian people because he was a shining light in the dark days of 90s,when we had one of the weakest sides.He gave indians pride,and reflected the ambitions of a rising economy and nation.He was the first true media age superstar,the first one common indians saw on their TVs.

He inspired 3 generations of indian batsmen - from the sehwags and yuvrajs,to kohli and sharmas and in his last stage the gills and shaws.Tendulkar was the one constant in India's transformation from a weak but passionate cricket nation to a cricket superpower.



4.Saurav Ganguly -

As a batsman he was good but not great.A great ODI player though.His legacy is his captaincy.He broke the nepotism and regional lobby system to a great extent.He to a large extent created team india by giving oppurtunities to youngsters from the small town -the same players who would become the backbone of a strong indian side for the next 10 years.Yuvraj,zaheer,harbhajan,sehwag,dhoni emerged under his tenure.Under him Indian team started winning abroad,went toe to toe with the mighty aussies and started showing aggression and spirit.He led the foundations for dhoni and the eventual 2011 wc triumph,having fallen one step short in 2003.



5.MS Dhoni -

As clutch as they come.Dhoni won everything in limited overs.He won 2 world cups and a champions trophy,brought back the WC after 28 years playing one of the greatest knocks in indian history.His test captaincy was not quite there,but still he took us to number one before the legends declined due to age.Dhoni one of the GOATs of the ODI game,he completely reversed India's attitude regarding chasing.He and yuvraj perfected the art of the chase and it was passed down to kohli.Chasing has now become India's default way of winning ODIs.In the 90s,chasing was one of the most panicky situations for indian batting.Has a following in India second only perhaps to tendulkar,and his legacy still remains unfinished -to be seen at the wc 2019.

6.Other.
 
Sachin Tendulkar.

He established a batting culture which is the reason why most kids aspire to become one of the batting legends of the game.

Of course, people will have their own favourites but having watched and followed Indian cricket, the impact that Sachin had, not just on field just but in establishing the culture and the mass hysteria is phenomenal.
 
Gavaskar at the top lol.

Most important is either Kapil (ODI cricket really took off after the WC win, he also inspired non elites to pick up the sport), Sachin (kept interest in the game alive through the 90s and Azhar/Jadeja's fixing scandals) or Ganguly (gave India the aggression and attitude a country which finally started growing needed).


The likes of Gavaskar, Dhoni, Kohli have no role in this discussion.
 
My top 10 are -

1. Kapil - the first rebellion of Indian cricket - challenged the status co of the cricket tradition and played the game in true spirit. Won WC as Captain which was first global recognition for Indian cricket. He brought Indian middle class hope that, you can be an ATG coming from a humble background & underprivileged area.
2. MSD - changed the way Indian team used to play the game; more importantly changed the way of playing cricket by Indian super stars. MSD could have broken almost every ODI batting record by volume, but he decided to move down the order for a purpose- very rare in south Asian cricket.
3. Anil Kumble - the most unsung hero of Indian cricket. From 1986 to 2002, India won 2 Tests outside home, one at Colombo & one at Dhaka. This guy was instrumental in keeping India among Test elites for a decade
4. Sunny - first superstar of Indian cricket, globally recognised first great.
5. Kohli - has taken India to a different level from the chasing pack with his own cricket & ruthless drive to win every game.
6. SRT - the most celebrated individual of Indian sports - carried the dream of a billion for over a decade. For an average team with limitless expectations, he was sort of a solace for the loses/disappointment of his team.
7. Tiger Pataudi - the first Indian captain to challenge his team to raise their game and compete. He believed that his team was better & played to win - out come of the game was secondary.
8. Ganguly - he was in between Pataudi & MSD as Captain interns of attitude & tactics and 2nd one after Pataudi not to back off to preserve the so called spirit of gentlemen’s game. Individually, he was actually the first modern ODI player for India who would play a very aggressive but calculated game.
9. Srinath - first Indian fast bowler to play a decade simply on bowling merit. Today, what we are experiencing had lots of contribution from Srinath & Zaheer. At his prime, Srinath was among the fastest & best pacer in world, which was unthinkable before him.
10. Vinnu Mankad - the first Indian player who was genuinely best in world at his role. Before Miller & Sobers; between 1945 to 1954, Vinnu Mankad was actually the best all-rounder in world. He was the Shakib Al Hasan of his time - brilliant individual for a poor team and managed his own reputation despite representing a poor team.

A special mention should be Lala Amarnath- his contribution to Indian (& south Asian) cricket was beyond stats, just like AH Kardar & Mashrafee.
 
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Kapil, no one comes close. He revolutionize the Indian cricketing culture. Fast bowlers had no role in the team prior to him, India was minnows in ODIs and most importantly he created winning mentality that India could beat any top teams , by winning the WC. Sachin and Sunil are ATGs but Indian always had great batsmen. Kohli will also be a contender for 2nd place later in his career.
 
Wait..the numbers are not meant to be my choice.They are chronological.
They are options.I didn't come to any conclusion on my own.This was a question.
 
How Sachin can be most important to our cricket. Neither he is good Captain unlike Ganguly , neither a good match winner like Kohli.
Please stop saying that he started batting culture in India, it's Gavasker who started it.
He is even not the best batsmen in test format ,Dravid is as good as him.
He just come and make records irrespective of India win or lose.
 
It must be between Dhoni and Sachin.

Sachin inspired many young kids to become a batsmen.

And Dhoni has turned the tables with his captaincy-reign, made India a consistent and formidable side.
 
Kapil with 83 WC, SRT.. for nearly 2 decades almost everyone wanted to become SRT, every child/kid wanted to have an MRF bat, Dada, though India always had superstars self-belief is low, with Dada it changed, the way Dada stood by youngsters also something which is previously not seen.

Srinath to a certain extent because he was the bridge between 2 generations of fast bowlers.. after Kapil n Prabhakar till Zak, Nehra, Agarkar.
 
Kapil Dev easily. We have not produced another remotely like him. 1983 WC win was the biggest turning point in Indian cricket history.
 
What are we judging them on here? Everyone on that list was important for the stage Indian cricket was in during their cricketing career.

If we are to look at sheer impact on cricket off pitch, Sachin towers everybody, as the OP puts it the boy who lived up to the hype, don't think as a country we will ever love and care for a cricketer as much as indians did for tendulkar, dhoni, kohli and others will have their fans but there will only ever be one god.

On pitch Ganguly wins it for me, Dhoni may have won things but dhoni's legacy is rebirth of nepotism and return of regionalism back in indian cricket, Ganguly's legacy was if you are good enough you will atleast get a fair shake. 2 of the 3 trophies dhoni won was off guys who were groomed by ganguly.
 
How Sachin can be most important to our cricket. Neither he is good Captain unlike Ganguly , neither a good match winner like Kohli.
Please stop saying that he started batting culture in India, it's Gavasker who started it.
He is even not the best batsmen in test format ,Dravid is as good as him.
He just come and make records irrespective of India win or lose.

Is that why players like Kohli/Dhoni/Dravid/Sehwag, etc talk about being inspired by Sachin to start playing cricket? Sachin has a very good win % to so I dont know what you are even talking about
 
To the OP's question, it's like answering which brick makes a never ending skyscraper stronger. Each brick stands on the other to strengthen the structure. Remove one and all comes crashing down
 
Kapil, no one comes close. He revolutionize the Indian cricketing culture. Fast bowlers had no role in the team prior to him, India was minnows in ODIs and most importantly he created winning mentality that India could beat any top teams , by winning the WC. Sachin and Sunil are ATGs but Indian always had great batsmen. Kohli will also be a contender for 2nd place later in his career.

Amen. He was India's answer to other countries' all rounders. Monstrous fitness throughout whole of his career. Won his country its 1st ever world cup. One of India's finest athletes ever.
 
Is that why players like Kohli/Dhoni/Dravid/Sehwag, etc talk about being inspired by Sachin to start playing cricket? Sachin has a very good win % to so I dont know what you are even talking about

Kohli fav player is Gibbs . He has to say this thing about sachin bcz people idolize him like god(I don't know why). Dravid seriously . He is older than Sachin. It's gavasker who give us a batting culture not Sachin.
He is not a god , please don't treat him like that. Remember he lost us a match for his 100th ton .
Dhoni idilize gilchrist not sachin . They have to say those thing about sachin bcz of our stupid people who considered him god.
 
Sunil Gavaskar. The ultimate opener in Test Cricket when the world was full of fast bowlers. Not the most exciting to watch but his technique was made for Test Cricket. If ever their was a "born opener" then he was that. During his playing days India depended on him more then any other player, he was their rock.
 
Kapil Dev, he basically popularized cricket to the masses in the subcontinent after winning the WC. Before that, cricket was below hockey in popularity and was a white man's game.
 
Ganguly. The India you see now is largely down to him.

India were a timid side who were easily intimidated. Ganguly changed all that. A giant amongst captains and vastly underrated.
 
MSD developed this team and wrote the last decade (Probably the best in their history).
 
Kapil Dev. He won th WC which made cricket undisputed no. 1 sports in India. He started tradition of fast bowling India which has resullted in the current Indian fast bowling prowess. After his retirement we still haven't found an allrounder of his class.
 
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Very tough to pick 1 but has to be SRT . Hero to a billion , every top cricketer & & & liked by the DON himself :)
 
This has to be Kapil or Dhoni. Both were transformational leaders in their eras. Tendulkar did nothing great except his batting. He was the worst captain India ever had
 
Kohli fav player is Gibbs . He has to say this thing about sachin bcz people idolize him like god(I don't know why). Dravid seriously . He is older than Sachin. It's gavasker who give us a batting culture not Sachin.
He is not a god , please don't treat him like that. Remember he lost us a match for his 100th ton .
Dhoni idilize gilchrist not sachin . They have to say those thing about sachin bcz of our stupid people who considered him god.

See now you are making a million excuses. Sachin played for 21 years, he had one bad match where he was struggling for timing since ball one in that 100th 100. He was completely out of form and struggling.

I always believe its ok to be a fan of player more than a hater who forms a million excuses for someone just because they hate him.

If you don't know why Sachin is liked you know nothing about Indian cricket, it's history or anything. This is nothing to do with treating him as God, it's respecting a player who played 21 years for the country and inspired many.

Here is Dravid inspired by Sachin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW-2gvYw5A8
 
This has to be Kapil or Dhoni. Both were transformational leaders in their eras. Tendulkar did nothing great except his batting. He was the worst captain India ever had

If inspiring players like Dravid, Kohli, Dhoni, Sehwag etc is nothing great I dont know what to say. Many of them wouldnt even have played cricket if not for Sachin. He is one of the biggest reason cricket was so popular in India
 
Kohli when he retires. He is changing the generation to not just be winners, but perfectionists. India is really lucky to have found someone like him.
 
Impossible to compare across eras, but chronologically:

Pataudi.
Gavaskar.
Kapil Dev.
Tendulkar.
Ganguly.
Dhoni.
Kohli.
 
Tendulkar and its not even close


Respect to contributions of all players big and small it doesnt matter but the likes of Tendulkar has never been seen in cricket after Bradman. Hes not just the most iconic batsman of his generation but nearly half a century of cricket.

He is the biggest reason cricket is as big as it is today in India. Tendulkar isn't merely a player for Indians. He is an emotion every Indian can relate with.

Of course his stature in the game, all the respect that he gets speaks for him and nothing said here whether in favour or not can't change that.
 
Can't look past Gavaskar, Kapil and Ganguly.

Hard as nails, stood up to opposition, won big things, redefined cricket cultures in their eras.

I understand Indians love for Tendulkar's batting but he is miles behind the others who really made Indian cricket matter on world stage.

Tendulkar made himself matter on world stage - which is to his great credit. He was superb as a batsman.
 
Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, Ganguly, Kohli and Dhoni in that order. There's every chance that this list might get revised to Kohli leaping over other 3 if he wins 2019 WC.
 
Sachin and no one else.

Since Sachin arrived, indian batting has improved. His legacy is still producing many great talents who look up to him and want to be like him.

Gavaskar could not have that impact and neither did Kapil dev.
 
Has to be Sachin.

You can tell how much of an influence he's had on Indian cricket since the 90s.
 
Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, GCSI, GBE. or Ranji to friends is also in the mix.

South Asia's first cricketing superstar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranjitsinhji

Ranji and Gavaskar did the most to raise the profile of subcontinental cricketers in the West.
 
Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, GCSI, GBE. or Ranji to friends is also in the mix.

South Asia's first cricketing superstar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranjitsinhji

Ranji and Gavaskar did the most to raise the profile of subcontinental cricketers in the West.

Ranjitsihji is the one. All others are distant second. U correctly said that he was first superstar of indian cricket.
 
Ranjitsihji is the one. All others are distant second. U correctly said that he was first superstar of indian cricket.

First superstar of Indian... and Bangladeshi and Pakistani cricket too as they were part of India then :)
 
Sachin and no one else.

Since Sachin arrived, indian batting has improved. His legacy is still producing many great talents who look up to him and want to be like him.

Gavaskar could not have that impact and neither did Kapil dev.

There was cricket in India before Tendulkar. Cricket started in India in 1930s. Every generation of cricketers added some legacy to Indian cricket that helped the next generation.

Without Gavasakar and Kapildev, there would be no Tendulkar. Tendulkar started playing cricket, inspired by the exploits of Kapildev.

Likewise, without Tendulkar, there would be no Kohli. Kohli started playing cricket, inspired by the exploits of Tendulkar.
 
Kapil Dev. Rest all not even close. Never before in Indian cricket history nor since has there been a fast bowling all-rounder of his class.
Also World Cup
 
Complicated topics (like the growth of cricket in a country) cannot have a simplistic one line twitter like answer, as this thread is seeking.
 
It has to be Kapil and Sachin.

Kapil changed the perception that cricket was an elite sport in India.

BCCI made its first real money cashing on Sachin's attraction among the fans.
 
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