In the long history of the game of cricket, so many superstars have graced the spot with their outstanding ability and skill. From the great Australian batter Don Bradman to global superstars like Virat Kohli- it is not easy to make a top list of greatest cricketers of all time. However, we at Cricfan, have tried to pick the top five greatest cricketers who have had long-lasting impacts on the game and fans.
Don Bradman
Considered by many as the greatest cricketer ever, Don Bradman was an Australian legend whose batting numbers are unmatchable. In just 52 Test matches Bradman scored 6996 runs with an astonishing average of 99.94. No other batter even came close. Bradman also scored 29 Test hundred, a record that he enjoyed for nearly 35 years even after bidding an adieu to the game of cricket. Badman had many memorable innings including his twin triple hundreds at Leeds in 1930 and 1934.
During his 1934 innings, he scored more than 300 runs in a day which is also a record till date. Besides being a great batter, Bradman was also an excellent captain who led his team in England during 1948 and remained unbeaten in the entire tour as his team was called ‘The Invincibles’. Bradman retired after that series after scoring a dramatic duck in his last test innings. He remained connected with Australian cricket post-retirement and became part of cricket trivia and pop culture.
Shane Warne
Another Australian who is considered a wizard, Shane Warne was one of the most colourful characters of world cricket. Leg spin is a difficult art to master but Warne was such a brilliant practitioner of that art that more often than not he used to mesmerize both the opponents and the fans with his mastery. After making an indifferent debut against India, Warne made his mark against England in the 1993 Ashes when the first delivery he bowled in a Test match at England, pitched outside the leg stump and turned sharply to hit the top of the off stump of Mike Gatting, one of the most experienced English batters.
This ball was considered ‘The Ball of the Century’ and provided instant fame to Warne. England remained his favourite opponents against whom he picked up 195 of his 708 wickets including 11 5-wicket hauls and even a hat-trick. He also won the 1999 Cricket World Cup with Australia and was ‘Player-of-the-match’ in both semi-final and final. Warne also had a great cricket brain but was never considered for Australian captaincy.
See also: Top 6 Cricket Matches for The Ages
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar was the most famous cricket player ever. One of the greatest batters of his era, Tendulkar was someone who was even appreciated by the great Bradman. In his 24-year-long international career, Tendulkar has scored more than 34,000 runs combining Test cricket, One Day International and T20 International. He is the youngest Indian to play Test cricket and his record of 100 international centuries will be very difficult to be broken.
Like Bradman, Tendulkar also has many great innings and reached new heights. He was the first male player to score a double-century in limited-overs cricket. Some of his battles against two of the cricketing power-houses Australia and Pakistan were legendary including his century at Sharjah in 1998, the Chennai test against Pakistan in 1999, and the outstanding 98 he scored against the same opposition in the 2003 World Cup.
Muthiah Muralidaran
Like Warne, Muthiah Muralidaran was another spin wizard who had a controversial career due to his bowling action. The Sri Lankan off-spinner has a congenitally bent arm resulting in an unusual hyperextension of his arm during his bowling. This raised a concern among umpires regarding the legality of his deliveries and he was called for chucking most famously by the Australian umpire Darrell Hair. After multiple biomechanical analysis by ICC, Muralidaran’s action was cleared.
Statistically, he is one of the greatest bowlers of all time, grabbing more than 1300 wickets in international cricket. He is the only bowler to reach 800 wicket mark in test cricket and also picked up 530 wickets in ODIs. He helped Sri Lanka win the World Cup in 1996 and for a period in the late 90s and early 2000 was the most potent weapon for Sri Lankan cricket and dominated opposition around the world.
Virat Kohli
In the long list of great Indian batters if Tendulkar is the master, then Virat Kohli is considered as its crown jewel. An outstanding batter, Kohli announced himself at an early age by leading the Indian Under-19 team to their second-ever Under-19 World Cup triumph in 2008. He was fast-tracked to the Indian team that year and for the next 16 years, he dominated international cricket with his batting prowess in all three formats. ODI’s are his preferred format, and he has already scored nearly 14,000 runs with fifty centuries.
His overall century tally is 80 and he is one of the few players to have centuries in all three formats. Some of his innings against the arch-rival Pakistan were mind-blowing including his knock of 82 at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2022. Kohli is also one of the most successful Indian captains who is hailed for developing a very strong pace bowling attack for India under his watch. He is expected to play for a few more years and reach new heights in his glittering cricket career.
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