Sportskeeda's Top 50 Indian Test cricketers of all-time (40-31)
After unveiling the list of ranks 50-41 last week, we now move on to the next set of players who have managed to leave an indelible imprint on the annals of Indian Test history. As with the previous group, the cricketers encompassing ranks 40-31 in our exclusive weekend feature are also enumerated according to the following criteria.
a) Overall career consistency.
b) Performances in matches won.
c) Performances in Tests outside India.
d) Game-changing efforts in big matches against quality opponents on Indian soil.
e) Stature in world cricket; opinions of peers and various experts.
f) Establishing new trends by breaking previously existing stereotypes.
g) Minimum cut-off of 1000 runs for batsmen/100 wickets for bowlers/50 dismissals for wicket-keepers in order to formulate a meaningful sample size.
h) Statistics have not been assumed to be the be-all and end-all of a player’s value. A general consensus has been arrived after factoring in every aspect of each cricketer’s career.
#40 Farokh Engineer
India's original 'Brylcreem Boy', Farokh Engineer was a rare colourful personality in a team mostly filled with stodgy cricketers. With his electric quiver of shots and charming wicket-keeping, he enthralled spectators across the globe. A versatile approach to batting saw him take on different roles from opening the innings to adding vital runs lower down the order.
Be it Bishan Singh Bedi's loop and Srinivas Venkataraghavan's flight or Bhagwath Chandrasekhar's serration and Erapalli Prasanna's guile, Engineer adapted brilliantly to the inherent variety within the fabled Indian spin quartet. A gifted ability to pick up length quickly helped him maintain his synchronisation with the iconic tweakers from behind the stumps.
Career Span: 1961-1975
Statistics: 66 catches and 16 stumpings; 2611 runs from 46 matches at an average of 31.08 with 2 centuries and 16 fifties