5 Indian cricketers who were absolute team players
Though cricket is a team sport, we often see individual performances leading the way for a side, and Team India have had their fair share of such experiences. There have also been multiple instances of players putting the team over themselves, having built a reputation of being selfless over the years.
Indian cricket has had a decorated history with some of the best players to have ever graced the sport representing the Asian giants. Naturally, the Men in Blue also had players who were selfless and played for the team's cause.
Here we will list five Indian cricketers who, for varying reasons, can be termed 'team players'.
#5 Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina played for Team India for 13 years after debuting in 2005. He became a white-ball mainstay, starring in multiple famous wins for the side.
Quite often Raina found himself at the non-striker’s end when another Indian batter reached a milestone, most famously, Virat Kohli’s century in the 2015 World Cup against Pakistan. The left-handed batter celebrated Kohli reaching the landmark with equal fervor, displaying his selfless qualities.
Virat Kohli stunning 107 off 126 balls against Pakistan in 2015 World Cup at Adelaide Oval 🏏
#ViratKohli #INDvPAK
https://t.co/8JO8eYO1yZ
He was electric on the field too, and was one of the players who kept others on toe when the going got tough. All in all, he was a team player, the kind every side would like to have with them.
#4 Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa displayed his selfless nature, playing a huge hand in Rohit Sharma completing his second double century and, in the process, scoring the highest ODI score ever. But none of that would have been possible without Uthappa.
The Chennai Super Kings batter walked in when India were 276-4 in the 41st over against Sri Lanka in 2014, with Rohit batting on 155 and looking ominous. Realising that the Indian opener was in his zone and it would be best to offer him most of the strike, Uthappa readily handed the strike back to Rohit at every opportunity.
On this day, Rohit Sharma played an inning of his lifetime, but Robin Uthappa also deserves a credit for playing the most selfless inning ever. https://t.co/nbdMtlVmeJ
While Rohit finished with 264, taking India to a match-winning total of 404, Uthappa remained unbeaten at 16 off 16. The latter had just made a comeback to the national side and was vying for a place in the World Cup.
But realising that the team would benefit if Rohit took most of the strike, he put his personal goals on the backburner and helped the team’s cause.
Uthappa also kept wickets for Team India in five ODIs, affecting six dismissals.
#3 Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar is often criticized for how he paced the innings that gave him his 100th international century. There have also been claims that the former batter was selfish, but that myth has been debunked quite a few times.
Tendulkar, more often than not, single-handedly carried the Indian batting in the 90s. It was also a tumultuous time in Indian cricket history, with allegations of match-fixing coming up. But the Master Blaster let his bat do the talking.
Moreover, 33 of Tendulkar’s 49 ODI hundreds came in a win, second only to Virat Kohli, who has scored 35 centuries in a winning cause. With a career spanning 24 years, Tendulkar is easily one of the biggest team players India have had.
#2 Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly led Team India’s revival in the early 2000s after a dark period, and took them to seldom seen highs. Ganguly’s Indian team played a fearless brand of cricket and took the game to the opposition.
As a batter too, he was as imposing as he was while leading the team, especially in white-ball cricket. The left-hand batter’s strong showings often saw Team India through. In ODIs, 18 of his 22 centuries resulted in an Indian win, which is quite a record in itself.
The cricketers who have played under Ganguly hold him in high regard and have testified that the current BCCI boss was a strong leader and gave them absolute freedom to take the team through the line.
#1 Rahul Dravid
The epitome of selflessness, Rahul Dravid was probably the biggest team player India have had. Now the head coach of the senior men’s team, Dravid was often tasked with the role of rescuing the side from tough situations.
The right-handed batter saved multiple Tests and ODIs for India and also showed that he kept the team above everyone else while captaining the side.
Dravid famously declared the innings against Pakistan when Tendulkar was just six runs short of his double century in the 2004 Multan Test. India won that match, which is also well known of Virender Sehwag’s triple-century, by an innings and 52 runs.