Irfan Pathan

• Irfan Khan Pathan is considered by many, with reason, as the most talented swing and seam bowler to emerge from India since Kapil Dev. When he made his Test debut in Australia in 2003-04, it was with the energy of a 19-year-old, but a composed nous that was striking even for one who had been specifically readied for the purpose via the A-team and age-group channels. His instinct is not merely what to bowl to who and when, but also to keep learning new tricks. Already he possesses perhaps the most potent left-armer's outswinger in the world, is adept at reversing the ball, and enjoys the long spell. Thus equipped, he played a big part in India's one-day and the Test series wins on their revival tour of Pakistan. His batting reserves are expected to yield significant lower-order, perhaps even lower-middle-order, runs in the future.
• ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2004

Full name: Irfan Khan Pathan
Born: October 27, 1984, Baroda, Gujarat
Major teams: India, Baroda, Middlesex
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm medium-fast

• Career statistics

Test debut: Australia v India at Adelaide - Dec 12-16, 2003
ODI debut: Australia v India at Melbourne - Jan 9, 2004
First-class span: 2000/01 - 2005/06
List A span: 2001/02 - 2005/06

Mohinder Amarnath

• Grit, guts and gumption personified Amarnath's roller-coaster career, which began in 1969 and spanned two eventful decades. He was cricket's Frank Sinatra - the master of the comeback. He started his career as suspect against short-pitched fast bowling, and finished it as one of the finest and bravest players of pace. His defining season was 1982-83: coming back to the side after three years, he stood tall to knock off 1182 runs - including five hundreds - in 11 away Tests against West Indies and Pakistan. He crowned the season with back-to-back Man of the Match awards at the climax of India's World Cup-winning campaign in 1983. But his world came crashing down again the following home season, when he managed only one run in six innings against that same West Indian team. "Mr Amarnought" got the axe. But it wasn't the end: he bounced back with renewed force and vigour and was soon hooking fast bowlers off his eyebrows again. He didn't go in for cheap runs - nine of his 11 Test centuries were scored overseas -- and he collected his share of bruises. He will be remembered as a batsman who didn't flinch in the face of fire.

Full name: Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj
Born: September 24, 1950, Patiala, Punjab
Major teams: India, Baroda, Delhi, Durham, Punjab, Wiltshire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

• Career statistics

Test debut: India v Australia at Chennai - Dec 24-28, 1969
Last Test: India v West Indies at Chennai - Jan 11-15, 1988
ODI debut: England v India at Lord's - Jun 7, 1975
Last ODI: India v West Indies at Mumbai - Oct 30, 1989
First-class span: 1966/67 - 1988/89
List A span: 1975 - 1989/90

Ravi Shastri

• For over a decade, Ravi Shastri rendered yeoman service to Indian cricket in many ways. As an obdurate opening or middle-order batsman; as a left-arm spinner who was an integral part of the attack; and as long-time deputy to a couple of captains. In his time he was very much the glamour boy of Indian cricket, tall and good-looking and with an image to match. He had his detractors who charged that he batted too slowly, that he was selfish in his approach, that he continued to be in the team only because Gavaskar was captain. But the phlegmatic Shastri took all this in his stride, letting his performances on the field speak for themselves. In reality, as Shastri himself admitted, he was not particularly talented but had come up only through hard work.
  Shastri might not have cut a dashing figure on the field as he pushed and prodded and grafted his way for runs and his bowling was little more than defensive as he pegged away on a good length without much variation. Of batsman who have played ten Test innings against Australia, only Eddie Paynter averages more than Shastri’s 77.75. He was like Navjot Sidhu in reverse: he started off as a lower-order hitter, but ended up as the original stonewaller at the top of the order.
  But no one could deny his immense value to the side, his commitment to the team's cause and his consistency had to be admired. He very rarely let the country down and was an excellent utility cricketer in the one-day game, good enough to win the coveted Champions of Champions title - and the Audi car that went with it - in the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985. Despite his image as a cricketer with a defensive outlook, Shastri could really have a go at the bowling - as he did while equalling Gary Sobers' world record of six sixes in an over in a Ranji Trophy game in January 1985. A deep thinker and a shrewd strategist, he led India to victory in the one Test he captained - against West Indies at Madras in 1987-88.

Full name: Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri
Born: 27 May 1962, Bombay , Maharashtra
Major teams: Mumbai, Glamorgan, India.
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow Left Arm Orthodox

• Career statistics

Test debut: New Zealand v India at Auckland - Jan 24-28, 1976
Last Test: Australia v India at Perth - Feb 1-5, 1992
ODI debut: New Zealand v India at Christchurch - Feb 21, 1976
Last ODI: India v South Africa at New Delhi - Nov 14, 1991
First-class span: 1975/76 - 1991/92
List A span: 1975/76 - 1991/92

Roger Binny

• A versatile allrounder, Roger Binny proved his value to the Indian team in both Test cricket and the one-day game. He was capable of rescuing India, like he did while scoring 83 not out and sharing a record 155 run seventh-wicket partnership with Madan Lal against Pakistan at Bangalore in 1983. He was capable of bowling India to victory, as he did in taking seven wickets in the match at Headingley in 1986. Or when with a spell of 4 for 9 in 30 balls towards his best Test figures of 6 for 56, he pushed Pakistan to the wall at Calcutta in 1987. But there is no doubt that Binny's most outstanding feats were associated with limited overs cricket - and more specifically the 1983 World Cup. He played a leading role in India's victorious campaign taking 18 wickets, then the record in the competition.
  Tall and athletically built, Binny was an aggressive batsman who could either open the innings or go in the middle order, was a medium-pace bowler who could swing the ball both ways - and was particularly effective in English conditions - and an excellent field. He first made his mark when putting on a record unbroken partnership of 451 runs for the first wicket with Sanjay Desai in the Ranji Trophy game against Kerala in 1977-78, his share being 211. He was generally in and out of the Indian team but whenever he was persevered with, he proved his value. With the ball, he was capable of destructive spells like when he dismissed Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas and Miandad at Bombay in 1979 to put Pakistan on the backfoot or when he dismissed Greenidge, Haynes and Richards to rock the West Indies at Ahmedabad in 1983. A Karnataka stalwart for several years, Binny later made his mark as a coach and was given a lot of credit for the victory of the Under-19 team in the World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000.

Full name: Roger Michael Humphrey Binny
Born: July 19, 1955, Bangalore, Karnataka
Major teams: India, Goa, Karnataka
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

• Career statistics

Test debut: India v Pakistan at Bangalore - Nov 21-26, 1979
Last Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore - Mar 13-17, 1987
ODI debut: Australia v India at Melbourne - Dec 6, 1980
Last ODI: India v Australia at Chennai - Oct 9, 1987
First-class span: 1975/76 - 1991/92
List A span: 1975/76 - 1986

Sunil Gavaskar

• Sunil Gavaskar was one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time, and certainly the most successful. His game was built around a near perfect technique and enormous powers of concentration. It is hard to visualise a more beautiful defence: virtually unbreachable, it made his wicket among the hardest to earn. He played with equal felicity off both front and back foot, had an excellent judgement of length and line and was beautifully balanced. He had virtually every stroke in the book but traded flair for the solidity his side needed more. He still holds the record for the highest number of Test hundreds, but statistics alone don't reveal Gavaskar's true value to India. He earned respect for Indian cricket and he taught his team-mates the virtue of professionalism. The self-actualisation of Indian cricket began under him.

Full name: Sunil Manohar Gavaskar
Born: July 10, 1949, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Somerset
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

• Career statistics

Test debut: West Indies v India at Port of Spain - Mar 6-10, 1971
Last Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore - Mar 13-17, 1987
ODI debut: England v India at Leeds - Jul 13, 1974
Last ODI: India v England at Mumbai - Nov 5, 1987
First-class span: 1966/67 - 1987
List A span: 1973/74 - 1987/88

Dilip Vengsarkar

• He burst upon the scene as a talented teenager when he scored a breezy 110 for Bombay against the Rest of India in the Irani Trophy match at Nagpur in 1975, in the process taking a heavy toll of Bedi and Prasanna, then at their peak. On his immense potential, he was straightaway inducted into the Indian team but success was rather slow in coming. It was not until the tour of Australia in 1977-78 that Dilip Vengsarkar established himself in the side and for the next 15 years he was one of the batting bulwarks. Tall and slimly built, Vengsarkar was basically an elegant strokeplayer but on his day - which was often - he could be a tormentor of even the strongest attacks. He was India's No 3 for many years and from that pivotal position guided the fortunes of the country's batting for more than a decade.
  From the late 70s to the late 80s, Vengsarkar was among the best batsmen in the country and, during a purple patch in the 80s, he was very nearly the leading player in the world. From 1986 to 1988, in 16 Tests, he scored eight hundreds. Vengsarkar's best known feat of course is being the first to score three hundreds against England at Lord's. A superb player of the drive, Vengsarkar could also pull effortlessly and hook fearlessly. With Sunil Gavaskar he holds the Indian record for the second wicket in Tests - 344 unbroken against West Indies at Calcutta in 1978-79. He led the country in ten Tests, but lost the captaincy in 1989 following a controversial tour to the USA to play some festival matches. He lost his place in the side temporarily and though brought back for a few games in the early 90s he was never really the same commanding player. At the time of his retirement in 1992, he was second only to Gavaskar in runs and centuries scored in Tests. He now runs the Elf cricket academy in Mumbai.

Full name: Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar
Born: April 6, 1956, Rajapur, Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Staffordshire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

• Career statistics

Test debut: New Zealand v India at Auckland - Jan 24-28, 1976
Last Test: Australia v India at Perth - Feb 1-5, 1992
ODI debut: New Zealand v India at Christchurch - Feb 21, 1976
Last ODI: India v South Africa at New Delhi - Nov 14, 1991
First-class span: 1975/76 - 1991/92
List A span: 1975/76 - 1991/92

Kapil Dev

• Kapil Dev was the greatest pace bowler India has produced, and their greatest fast-bowling allrounder. If he had played at any other time - not when Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were contemporaries - he would surely have been recognised as the best allrounder in the world. In any case he did enough to be voted India's Cricketer of the Century during 2002. His greatest feats were to lead India almost jauntily, and by his allround example, to the 1983 World Cup, and to take the world-record aggregate of Test wickets from Hadlee. It was the stamina of the marathon runner that took him finally to 431 wickets and only a yard beyond. He might not have been quite the bowling equal of Imran, Hadlee or Botham at his best, and his strike rate was less than four wickets per Test. But he was still outstanding in his accuracy and ability to swing the ball, usually away from right-handers. And he could hit a ball even more brilliantly than he bowled it, with uncomplicated flair.
  Kapil's most memorable knock was an unbeaten 175 in the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells in England, where he rescued India from 17 for five to 266 in 60 overs.
  Kapil has claimed 434 Test and 253 One-day wickets in 15 years. He surpassed Richard Hadlee of New Zealand to become the world's highest wicket taker. Walsh of West Indies recently beat him to the world record.Ever since he broke on the cricketing scene in 1978 as a young fast bowler, Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj has become a household name in Indian cricket. Kapil Dev was the first genuine fast bowler on Indian soil and toiled hard under conditions not very conducive for his type of bowling to become the highest wicket taker in the world.
• West Indian war horse Courtney Walsh recently surpassed Kapil's great effort of 434 Test wickets. Though Kapil reached the pinnacle of glory in Test cricket, his high water mark was winning the World Cup in 1983. He was named as the Wisden "Cricketer of the Year" in 1983.
• Kapil began his career at Pakistan under the captaincy of Bishen Singh Bedi in 1978. He never looked back, emerging as the strike bowler for India.
• Kapil made his Test and Limited Overs International (LOI) debuts in Pakistan during India's tours of 1978-79. Both his debuts were not very impressive in terms of wickets taken.
• The tall and well-built Haryana 'Jat' showed that he had the potential to develop into a world-beater. The innings against Zimbabwe during the 1983 World Cup stands out for his ability to win matches single-handedly.With India tottering at 17 for five, the country's chances of making further progress in the championship looked very bleak. But Kapil scored a marvelous unbeaten 175 (a record which stood for a long time) to take India through to World Cup triumph.