Saurav Ganguly

Full name: Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
Nickname: Dada, Maharaj, Bengal Tiger, Prince of Calcutta, Lord Snooty
Born: July 8, 1972, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Bengal, Glamorgan, Lancashire
Height: 5.11 ft
Education: St Xavier's College
Relations: Brother - Snehasish C Ganguly

Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

Test debut: England v India at Lord's - Jun 20-24, 1996

ODI debut: India v West Indies at Brisbane - Jan 11, 1992

Born on 8th July, 1972, Saurav Ganguly made his One Day International debut against Australia in 1992, and a Test debut versus England in 1996. He went on to become the captain of Indian cricket team from 2000 to 2005. He has led India to the World Cup 2003 finals, and holds the Indian captaincy record for the most Test victories. He was dropped from the national team in early 2006 due to conflicts with the then new coach Greg Chappell. He was recalled to the Indian Test side in December, to fill the position of a left handed batsman (Yuvraj Singh) who was injured. With reasonably consistant scores during the 2006 - 2007 Indian tour of South Africa, this could be remembered as his succesful comeback to international cricket

Some felt he couldn't play the bouncer, others swore that he was God on the off-side; some laughed at his lack of athleticism, others took immense pride in his ability to galvanise a side. Sourav Ganguly's ability to polarise opinion led to one of the most fascinating dramas in Indian cricket. Yet, nobody can dispute that he was India's most successful Test captain. When he took over the captaincy after the match-fixing exposes in 2000, he quickly proved to be a tough, intuitive and uncompromising leader. Under his stewardship India started winning Test matches away, and put together a splendid streak that took them all the way to the World Cup final in 2003.

His downfall began in Nagpur match ODI where he was withdrawn from the team. Then his consistent failures went side by side with the consistent failures of the Indian team, which was at its best in the upto 2003. The ban of 6 matches did the plot. Rahul Dravid became the captain which led to the remarkable revival of the team. The odd 20-30 runs didn't help Saurav and he was dropped from the team in October 2005. Seeing his then good performance in the English County Season and domestic cricket he was recalled to the team in December 2006. On January 12th 2007 he was recalled for the one day squad as well, where India play host to West Indies and Sri Lanka in a one day tournament. On January 21st, Ganguly hit a match winning 98 against the West Indies.
Also Visit http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/28779.html

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Anil Kumble

Full name: Anil Kumble
Nickname: Jumbo, Kumbles
Born: October 17, 1970, Bangalore, Karnataka
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Karnataka, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Surrey
Education: Mechanical Engineer from R.V. College of Engineering

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Leg break googly

Test debut: India v England at Manchester - Aug 9-14, 1990

ODI debut: India v Sri Lanka at Sharjah - Apr 25, 1990

1996 - Wisden cricketer of the year 1996

PROFILE
He is one of those rare personalities in the cricket world who has the qualities of both a great player and a great person. Though stardom has always evaded Kumble, he has never felt sad or disappointed. Every delivery he bowls is with a new spirit and enthusiasm and onfeild behaviour is an example for others. His record list, which is a never ending list, speaks of him. In 1999 he became the first and the only Indian player to take all the 10 wickets in an innings, the feat performed only once before by Jim Laker back in 1955. Its Anil only who holds the Indian record of the most number of wickets in both ODI and test. Kumble also owns the Indian record of the most the test wins by a bowler.....disheartened

Anil Kumble who hails from Banglore in Karnataka, has his parental background in village Kumble situated in the Kasargod district of Kerala. After doing mechanical engineering from R.V. college of engineering he decided to take up cricket as his profession. He made his debut as a right arm medium pacer but soon established himself as a leg spinner. Due to this very reason, his bowls are nearer to the medium pace speed. By the year 1992 he had become a regular member of the national team owing to some spectacular regular performances.

The season 1995-96 was a golden period as Kumble's ODI perfomance was awesome. He took 61 wickets at an average of 20.24 and strike rate of just 4.06. It was same year in which the World cup was held in Asia. Owing to such great performance he was also named as the Wisden Cricketer of the year.

Anil Kumble is rather an unorthodox leg spinner. His deliveries have more of speed and less turn. With a clever mix of top-spinners, googlies, leg-breaks, flight and a variation of pace he has ability to frighten the best batsmen of the world. His flipper is one deadly deliveries which rather than hanging in the air speeds up after hitting the ground. His bowling ability can been seen by the no. of players he has dismissed by LBW's.

After arrival of Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble has been sidelined as a test player. He has been regularly been dropped from the ODI team though his place in the test squad has been firmly held by him. Even then he has been able to make to the Indian world cup squads in 1999, 2003 and now even in cricket world cup 2007. Recently he also announced that world cup would be his last ODI tournament.
View Anil Kumble's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/30176.html

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Zaheer Khan

Full name: Zaheer Khan
Nickname: Zak
Born: October 7, 1978, Shrirampur, Maharashtra
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Baroda, Surrey, Worcestershire

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm fast-medium

Test debut: India v Bangladesh at Dhaka - Nov 10-13, 2000

ODI debut: India v Kenya at Nairobi (Gym) - Oct 3, 2000

Twenty20: Debut India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
Zaheer Khan has been one of the best findings of the Indian team. Zaheer who made his international debut in 2001, left his engineering studies in between to pursue a career in cricket. Showing great skills at the national arena, Zaheer was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Soon he made his international debut in both test and ODI in the same year.

Zaheer's impressive debut in the ICC Knockout, when two yorkers in three balls speared into the off stumps of Kenyan batsmen, heightened people's expectations. He lived to these expectations and took India to the finals of the world cup 2003. He ended the world cup as the fourth highest wicket taker with 18 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 20.

Zaheer holds the world record for the highest Test score by a number 11 when he scored 75 for India v Bangladesh in Dhaka, 2004. His partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which produced 133 runs is an Indian-record for the tenth-wicket. Also he hit 4 sixes off the last 4 bowls of the innings to Henry Olonga in Jodhpur which unveils his other potent dimension.

Zaheer Khan has the rare courage to bowl to all batsmen with the same aggressiveness and vigor. He has the talent to swing the ball both ways off the wicket and swing the old ball at the same pace. But after a hamstring injury in late 2003, Zaheer has lost both his pace and place in the team to the new pace generation. But a great English County Season, 2006 and Ranji Trophy, 2006 has got him a place in the national team of which he made the most. Now he is sure to be part of the Indian team for 2007 world cup. Good Luck Zaheer!
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Irfan Pathan

Full name: Irfan Khan Pathan
Nickname: Guddu
Born: October 27, 1984, Baroda, Gujarat
Major teams: India, Baroda, Middlesex
Relations: Brother - YK Pathan

Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm medium-fast

Test debut: India v Australia at Adelaide - Dec 12-16, 2003

ODI debut: India v Australia at Melbourne - Jan 9, 2004

Twenty20 debut: India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

2004 - ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2004

PROFILE
Irfan Pathan was born to an impoverished father who served as a muezzin in a local mosque. Thus Irfan and his brother spent most of their childhood days in the mosque corridors. Irfan Pathan's parents wanted their sons to be Islamic scholars but the two brothers took more interest in cricket. Slowly and steadily Irfan developed his bowling skills. Irfan practiced for more than six hours daily to sharpen his cricketing skills. Soon under the guidance and supervision of the former Indian captain, Datta Gaekwad, Pathan was selected in the under-14 Baroda team.

Pathan, who rejoiced watching Wasim Akram bowling, made his first class debut at the age of 16 in the 2000-01 season. Soon in the year 2002 he was selected for the Under 19 world cup to be held New Zealand. His haul of 18 wickets in the U-19 Asian tournament got him selection in the national team. Pathan debut games in both the versions of the game were not so good but he came back strongly in both the versions. He earned his first man of the match award in his first ODI series only against Zimbabwe at Perth. After such a glorious start to the carrer, Pathan just blew away to new heights.

Before the team's departure to Pakistan in 2004, Javed Miandad commented that bowlers like Irfan could be found in every street of Pakistan. Pathan soon proved that Miandad had made a mistake as he ended the series as one of the top wicket-taker and helped India to secure its first series victory over Pakistan in two decades. Irfan's regular performances also earned him the prestigious award of the ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2004

Greg Chappel, who took over as the new team coach in 2005, saw Irfan as the the best allrounder in India's cricket history after Kapil Dev. He sparkled Irfan's batting skills and Irfan also showed results. His 83 vs Sri Lanka is one of his memorable innings. Since then Irfan has batted at all positions from opening slot to ninth down. But to his and our dismay, Irfan's form and pace, both have dropped since then. During 2006, for most of the time, he has remained out of the national team due to poor form. In December 2006, he became the first player to be sent back from a foreign tour when he was sent back from the tour of South Africa to find his form. Besides all this Pathan has been selected in the world cup 2007 squad owing to his past form and reputation.
View Irfan's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/32685.html

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MS Dhoni

Full name: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Nickname: Mahi
Born: July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar
Major teams: India, Jharkhand, East Zone, Bihar

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
Fielding position: Wicketkeeper

Test debut: India v Sri Lanka at Chennai - Dec 2-6, 2005

ODI debut: India v Bangladesh at Chittagong (MAA) - Dec 23, 2004

Twenty20 debut: India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, popularly known as Dhoni is an aggressive batsman with good wicketkeeping skills. This lad from the backwaters of Jharkhand and With Adam Gilcrist as his idol, started playing for Bihar in 1999 at the age of just 18 years. Initially his performance with both bat and gloves were only modest but he kept on improving. After regular good performances he was noticed by the national selectors and was selected to represent India 'A' on the tour of Kenya. No sooner he was selected to represent the national team and awarded by the BCCI with a B-grade contract.

Dhoni on entering the Indian team showed them how important was he for the team. In Dec. 2005 he hit an amazing 183 off just 145 deliveries against Sri Lanka, equaling Saurav Ganguly's score for the highest individual score by an Indian in Odi. He also hit 10 huge sixes and surpassed the previous Indian record of 7 and just short of world record of 11. Averaging over 50, he soon overtook the Aussie captain Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI batsmen ranking, in Apr2006 but was soon dethroned. But even then he stills continues to be in the top 10.

In such a short time Dhoni has already written a list of records in his name, which is expected to expand by multiples in future. Such performances have ousted the likes of Dinesh Kartick and Parthiv Patel and Dhoni has taken over the responsibility of the Indian wicketkeeper cum batsman. Since then this man has never looked back and has become the most beloved player of all Indian cricket fans. The chicks have been fida on him due to his great looks and not to forget his long hair.

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Dinesh Karthik

Full name: Krishna Kumar Dinesh Karthik
Born: June 1, 1985, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu
Major teams: India, India A, India Under-19s, Indian Board President's XI, Tamil Nadu

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Fielding position: Wicketkeeper

Test debut: India v Australia at Mumbai - Nov 3-5, 2004

ODI debut: England v India at Lord's - Sep 5, 2004

Twenty20 debut: South Africa v India at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
Dinesh Karthik started playing cricket at the age of 10 under the coaching of his father Krishna Kumar. His father, a first division cricket player from Chennai always wanted his son to excel in cricket. He had suffered when he was forced to put studies ahead of cricket and didn't want his son to face the same. So training under his father, Karthik, made his first class debut at a young age of 17 for Tamil Nadu. Initially he was just a batsman but he added wicketkeeping to his game to give himself better future prospects. Robin Singh also regarded him as having very high level of fitness.

In his first first class season, Karthik couldn't make a mark. Though his batting was pretty good and he averaged over 35, his regular mistakes behind the wicket went against him and he was dropped for the final matches. So to improve his wicketkeeping he joined an off-season wicketkeeping camp under the guidance of India's former wicketkeeper and the then chief selector Kiran More. He came back as a better and wicketkeeper and batsman as he accumulated 438 runs and took 20 catches. This also included a century in both semi-final and final of the Ranji Trophy.

Despite such good performances, Dinesh was ignored for the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy. But Dinesh Karthik continued his good run as he scored a gritty 70 off 39 balls in the under 19 cricket world cup in Bangladesh. At last Kartik was selected in the national team after the selectors decided to cease using Rahul Dravid as a part time wicketkeeper. So he made his ODI debut in sept, 2004 but was out for just 1 run. His continuing batting slump forced the selectors to drop him and the lad from the state of Jharkhand, MS Dhoni took over his place in the one day side.

Karthik made his test debut in the late 2004 against Australia after Parthiv Patel was dropped due to poor form. Though he could add only 16 runs and 2 catches to his kitty, he was praised for his wonderful wicketkeeping. His memorable innings came in early 2005 when he scored an outstanding 93 against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. However his batting didn't show the required promise and MS Dhoni took over his place.

After being dropped from both the teams, Karthik remained out of international arena for over a year. Meantime he played first class cricket to improve his batting skills. Owing to his regular good performances at the first class level, Karthik was recalled to the ODI team in April, 2006 mainly to give Dhoni some rest. With Yuvraj Singh injured in late 2006, he was included in the team as a specialist batsman. Though he was not played in all the matches, he proved himself in every game he played. He even bagged his first man of the match for his score of 63 against WestIndies at the Barabati Stadium. Such good form has also awarded this youngster a place in the Indian squad for the world cup 2007
View Karthik's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/30045.html

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Yuvraj Singh

Full name: Yuvraj Singh
Nickname: Yuvi
Born: December 12, 1981, Chandigarh
Major teams: India, Punjab, Yorkshire
Relations: Father - B Yograj Singh

Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow left-arm orthodox

Test debut: India v New Zealand at Chandigarh - Oct 16-20, 2003

ODI debut: Kenya v India at Nairobi (Gym) - Oct 3, 2000

PROFILE
Yuvraj Singh is primarily a left-handed batsman but can bowl part-time left-arm orthodox spin. This flamboyant batsman first came into attention when he made a dashing 358 captaining the the Punjab U-19 team in the final of the Cooch-Behar Trophy against Bihar U-19s. Owing to his superb performance he was then selected in the U-19 national team for the world cup to be held in Sri Lanka in 1999 under the captaincy of Mohammad Kaif. Being part of the winning team of the U-19 world cup, Yuvraj Singh was chosen in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Yuvraj made a classy start to his international career. It was his second ODI, when he made a quickfire 84 off 82 and that too against the Aussies studded with bowlers like McGrath, Lee and Gillespie. But after that innings he subsequently dropped from the team due to his poor form. But soon he made a wonderful return to the team with a score of 98 against the Lankans. One of his most memorable innings was a partnership with Mohammad Kaif in the NatWest Series final against England in July 2002 which led India to victory and it cemented his place in the Indian team.

The 2005-06 season proved to be a watershed for Yuvraj, with 1161 runs at 58 in the one-dayers, as he transformed himself into one of the keystones in India's batting line-up. Besides being a gifted batsman, Yuvraj is a great fielder also. Very often he can be seen standing at the Jonty Rhodes Corner. He has the ability to take stunning catches and make awesome stops. A Cricinfo report published in late 2005 showed that since 1999, he was the fourth most prolific fielder in effecting ODI run outs, and of those on the list of prolific fielders, he had the second highest rate of effecting a run out. Even he also a good part time bowler who has the ability to take wickets. After having a great 2005-06 season he was out of action for oer three months due to knee injury and made his return in January, 2006.

Though being such a talented player Yuvraj has had a number of critics. Many complain about his attitude. Also he attracted attention by angry gesticulations to the Indian dressing room after he reached his century against West Indies, which was postulated to be due to his clashes with team management - Greg Chappell had been appointed as the new Indian coach and he had criticised Yuvraj. He later praised Chappell's techniques.

Owing to his great personality, Yuvraj was signed by Microsoft to be a brand ambassador for the Xbox 360 video game console when it was launched in India in 2006. He appeared in advertisements for the console alongside Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. A cricket game with his endorsement, Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007, was announced for release in 2007 in India. Besides this Yuvraj has also walked down the ramp in various fashion shows alongside other celebrities and models.
Veiw Yuvraj's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/36084.html

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Ajit Agarkar

Full name: Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar
Born: December 4, 1977, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Middlesex, Mumbai

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium

Test debut: Zimbabwe v India at Harare - Oct 7-10, 1998

ODI debut: India v Australia at Kochi - Apr 1, 1998

Twenty20 debut: South Africa v India at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
Ajit Agarkar gave a speedy start to his career as he became the fastest to reach 50 wickets in One Day Internationals. But such speed was accompanied by batting slump of 7 ducks in a row against Australia. Besides them he has many records to his name. He holds the world record of being the quickest in terms taking least no. of matches in reaching the feat of 200 wickets and completeing 1000 runs in ODI. He completed this feat in 133 matches breaking the previous record held by Shaun Pollock in 138. He also holds the fastest Indian record of hiiting a ODI half-century, hitting it in just 21 balls

Agarkar was born in the Shivaji Park area of Mumbai and was raised by his grandparents. He from the starting took interest in cricket. Agarkar, at the school level, was a top order batsman who could bowl a bit. Once he was made to open the bowling attack and he performed well. So he started opening the bowling attack. When he played at the state level, he was an allrounder. At the national level, under the captainship of Md. Azharuddin he was a bowler and a lower order batsman. But by the time Azhar left, he was left as a pacer and a tailender.

Agarkar records in the one day arena has been a good one. When he is to his terms he can take quick wickets. But in other cases he can expensive. Though a lean and not so tall personality, unlike other quicks, he has the rare talent to swing the ball both ways and generate a speed of 140 kph regularly. Agarkar's run in test matches has been disappointing. Besides some good performances he has not been able to make a mark in the longer version of the game. But he too has to his name the unbeaten test century at Lords in 2002, while batting at eighth number.

Agarkar, besides being such a good bowler has been in and out of the team, sometimes due to form, in other cases due to injury. Since now he has made nine comebacks in the national team and won the match of the award in 5 of these comebacks. But he has been able to make to all the three world cups, since he made his international debut in 1998. Though he played only 3 matches in the 1999 world cup and not even a single match in 2003 world cup, he is expected to spearhead the Indian bowling attack allong with Zaheer Khan in the Cricket world cup 2007.

View Ajit Agarkar's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/26184.html

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Sachin Tendulkar

Full name: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Nickname: Tendlya, Little Master, Master Blaster, Slashin Sachin, The Bombay Bomber, 10dulkar, 4+6=10dulkar
Born: April 24, 1973, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Mumbai, Yorkshire
Height: 5.05 ft
Education: Sharadashram Vidyamandir School

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Legbreak googly

Test debut: Pakistan v India at Karachi - Nov 15-20, 1989

ODI debut: Pakistan v India at Gujranwala - Dec 18, 1989

Only Twenty20 Int.: South Africa v India at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1997
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 1997-98
Padma Shri 1999

PROFILE

The name, Sachin Tendulkar, itself spells excellence. It won't be wrong to call him a genius batsman. He became the first batsmen to reach the 50 centuries mark in international cricket and at present leads the list of the number of runs scored in ODI cricket. He is the best ever batsman in the Indian cricket history and can be called second only to the legendry cricketer Sir Donald Bradman. His bravery was proved after he was hit on the head on his Test debut in Pakistan, when he was only 16; and his commitment to the Indian cause has never been in doubt.

Sachin, born in a middle class Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins community in Bombay, now known as Mumbai, was named after his family's favorite music director Sachin Dev Burman. His late father Ramesh Tendulkar was a Marathi novelist. He was encouraged to play cricket by his elder brother, Ajit Tendulkar. While at school, he was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who also went on to represent India. He also became the only player to score a century while making his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debut before entering the international arena.

Tendulkar's debut in both test and one day cricket was disappointing but he soon showed signs that he is the best out there. Tendulkar, succeeded Mohammad Azharuddin as captain and led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were comprehensively beaten 3-0 [5] by the newly-crowned world champions. After another Test series defeat, this time by a 0-2 margin at home against South Africa, Tendulkar resigned, and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000. In the CWC1996 he scored with an awesome average and scored 673 runs in the CWC2003 to win the Man of the series award. Shane Warne, the Australian cricketer once ruefully joked that he was having nightmares about his Indian nemesis.

But after all these things he has always been in a grip of injuries. A chronic back problem flared up when Pakistan toured India in 1999. Tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar, leaving him out of the side for the first two Tests when Australia toured India in 2004. In 2006 again he remained out of action for over 2 months following shoulder injury. After recovering from this injury he has returned to the team but can't be said in top of his form. But even then he it can't be said Tendulkar is finished. Let's hope that like the previous world cup, Tendulkar becomes the largest runs scorer and helps India bring world cup 2007 home.

Also visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachin_Tendulkar

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Robin Uthappa

Full name Aiyudda Robin Uthappa
Born November 11, 1985, Coorg, Karnataka
Major teams India, India Under-19s, Karnataka, Reebok XI

Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Fielding position Wicketkeeper

ODI debut India v England at Indore - Apr 15, 2006

PROFILE
Son of an international hockey referee, Venu Uthappa, Robin is a very promising cricket. In his international debut only he scored a illustrious 86 before being run out. It is the highest score by an Indian on his international debut in the limited overs game. Robin Uthappa was initially a wicketkeeper-batsman. But to concentrate on batting more, he gave up wicketkeeping and started bowling medium pace.

Robin Uthappa's batting is a treat to watch. He is a batsman who is not afraid to play his shots and has all type of shots in his book. He has the ability to hit huge sixes along with lofty fours. Besides this he is not a batsman who settles down before playing his shots. Besides this he is also quick on the field.

He scores at a speed of over run a ball. Uthappa first class record is just a modest one where he averages a so-so 32. But when it comes to the limited overs version he has something to say with his averages touching the forty mark and strike rate of over 93. He first came into limelight when he scored a brilliant 66 for India B against India A in the Challenger Trophy in 2005. But a blistering ton off 93 balls in the very next edition of the same tournament showed his ability to strike the ball.

After giving a remarkable start to his international career with a 86 on debut, his next two outings weren't great. Subsequently he was dropped from the side but he did return to the squad in Jan, 2007 for the series against West Indies. Here again he proved his mettle with fifty. He smashed 70 from just 41 deliveries. Recently he has been included in the Indian squad for the world cup 2007 to be held in West Indies and is the only one who is yet to make his test debut. He is expected to open the innings there.
View Robin's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/35582.html

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Virender Sehwag

Full name: Virender Sehwag
Nicknames: Viru, Nawab of Najafgarh, Sultan of Multan
Born: October 20, 1978, Delhi
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Delhi, ICC World XI, Leicestershire, Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

Test debut: South Africa v India at Bloemfontein - Nov 3-6, 2001

ODI debut: India v Pakistan at Chandigarh (Punjab C.A.) - Apr 1, 1999

Twenty20 debut: India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

2005 Selected in the ICC World XI for the 2005 ICC Super Series
2005 "Most exciting opener in the world" by Wisden

PROFILE
This dashing batsman has everything in his batting which the spectators enjoy- huge sixes, lofty shots, straighter straight drives, powerful backfoot punches and not to forget the aggresiveness. Virender Sehwag, son of a grain merchant was born in Delhi. Academically poor, he pestered his parents to pursue a carrer in cricket. But at the age of 12, when he broke his tooth while playing cricket, his father tried to end his carrer but with help of mother Krishna Sehwag he was able to continue playing. Sehwag made his debut in first class cricket in 1997-98 season playing for Delhi. The very next season he was selected to represent the north zone and he also made his ODI debut. His regular performances at the national and international level made him a regular member of the Indian team.

After making ODI debut in 1999, Sehwag made his first fifty agianst Australia in his fourth match scoring at a strike rate of over 100. But it took some time for Sehwag to score a century which came in 2001 only. But it was a hundred of just 69 balls and it earned him his first man of the match award. Since then he became the permanent member of the Indian team and played at the opening slot mainly with Sachin or Saurav.

In tests, Sehwag got a flying start, hitting a ton on his debut. He was awarded one match suspension in his second match for over appealing which became a political issue. The failure of experiments with other players for the opening slot awarded him the a new position which took him to new heights. In early 2004 he became the only Indian to cross the triple century mark(which he completed with a six) scoring 309 against Pakistan at Multan. His other memorable innings is 254 vs Pakistan at Lahore sharing the second best opening stand with skipper Rahul Dravid.

Since 2005 Sehwag has been on a drier side. His one day form has been dreadful. He was even dropped from the team in the early Jan-Feb, 2007 due to his poor form. He was selected in the final 15 Indian squad for the world cup 2007 to be held in WestIndies only due to Rahul Dravid's immense confidence on him. Besides batting, Sehwag is a handy offspinner also who has the knack to take wickets at odd times.

Sehwag who has his idol in Sachin Tendulkar, has much in common to him. His straight drives, backfoot punches, leg glances often reminds you of the old Sachin. Besides cricket Sehwag also opened a resturant named Sehwag favourites at Fun Republic cineplex in 2005 , here also following his idol. Sehwag also does a lot of charity work for Unicef. He donated for the tsunami victoms, auctioning his bat for Rs.70000 with which he had hit the triple century.
Veiw Sehwag's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/35263.html

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Sreesanth

Full name: Shanthakumaran Sreesanth
Nicknmes: Gopu, Kerala express, The Prince of hat-tricks
Born: February 6, 1983, Kothamangalam, Kerala
Major teams: India, Kerala, Kerala Under-19s

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium

Test debut: India v England at Nagpur - Mar 1-5, 2006

ODI debut: India v Sri Lanka at Nagpur - Oct 25, 2005

Twenty20 debut: India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
"To me, the find of the series for India has undoubtedly been Sreesanth and irrespective of what happens, this lad has the ability to go a long way and serve his country with merit and distinction." This is what Moin Khan said after the 3rd test at Multan. Blessed with unique capability to swing the ball late and generate sudden movement off the pitch, Sreesanth's rise has been quite rapid. Since making a debut he has usually been a regular member of the national team and at many times spearheaded the bowling attack.

Sreesanth was initially a leg-spinner and being a great fan of Anil Kumble, he tried to copy his bowling action. But his habit of bowling the yorkers forced him to convert to pace bowling. Sreesanth made his first class debut in the year 2002-03 against Goa. His fine bowling and large haul of wickets earned him place in the South Zone Team for the Duleep Trophy in the very same season- a feat accomplished by many few cricketers. But during a warm -up match against the touring New Zealand team he suffered a hamstring injury which kept him out for a month. But he returned with much more energy and claimed his first Ranji hat-trick against Himachal, also the first one for Kerala in Ranji Trophy ever. This also earned him the nickname The 'Prince of hat-tricks' among the Keralites.

In his international ODI debut in Oct, 2005, Sreesanth was a bit expensive during the opening overs but he later came back to take two wickets. He was subsequently dropped from the playing eleven before being recalled for the fourth, fifth and sixth ODI. But Sreesanth's good performances starting coming after the Tour of Pakistan in 2006 where in the last match he ended with a figures of 4/58. In the very next home series against England, Sreesanth earned his first man of the match award.

It took a long 5 months for Sreesanth to make a test debut after making his international debut. Sreesanth was included in the squad at the expense of Zaheer Khan for the Ist test at Nagpur against England in 2006. He recorded figures of 4/95 on his debut. After that he went to the tour of West Indies as the leading pace bowler. But it the tour of South Africa,2006 after which he rose to fame, helping India to score its first test win on South African soil. Besides this he has been fined by the ICC twice, once for breaching the ICC logo policy and the other time for sending South African Batsman Hashim Amla back after dismissing him. He has also been involved in a spat while batting with pacer Andre Nel, responding to the taunt of the fast bowler by charging the next delivery, hitting for a six and the most of it, running and swinging his bat after Nel to perform dance(Video can be seen below)

Besides cricket Sreesanth has varied talents and interests. He is an accomplished break dancer who has even won a national award for this in the eighth standard. He also good at playing football, table tennis and hockey. Also he is capable of speaking Tamil, Hindi and English besides his mother tongue Malayalam. Another fact about Sreesanth - he studies psychology at university when not playing cricket.

View his stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/34274.html

Sreesanth swinging his bat

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Munaf Patel

Full name: Munaf Musa Patel
Born: July 12, 1983, Ikhar, Gujarat
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Indian Board President's XI, Reebok XI

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium-fast

Test debut: India v England at Mohali - Mar 9-13, 2006

ODI debut: India v England at Margao - Apr 3, 2006

PROFILE
Born in a anti-cricket family, Munaf can be indisputably said as the fastest pacer this pace-starved nation has found. Much before he made his first class debut, he was invited to join the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai after Kiran More saw him practising at nets. While he trained under the legendary Australian player Dennis Lillee, he even surprised the all time great, Steve Waugh, with his pace. The surprised and impressed fellow shot out 'This bloke's quick, where did he come from.

While Munaf trained at the MRF Pace Academy, he even impressed the Little Master - Sachin Tendulkar. Seeing his tremendous abilities, Tendulkar asked him to join the Mumbai team. So before Munaf could debut for Baroda or Gujrat he had been transferred to Mumbai. Even then the road ahead was not clear. Before he could make his first class debut from Mumbai, he was made the strike bowler for the team as Avishkar Salvi was down with an injury and Ajit Agarkar was playing for the national team. Even then he took a respectable haul of 14 wickets in his first season.

Regular performances at the national level - not to forget 10 wickets against England while playing from Board's President XI, at last earned him a place in the national team. Patel recorded an awesome figures of 7/97 on his debut with 4 wickets in the second innings, a feat rarely accomplished. He bowled regularly at a speed of over 87 mph and touching the 90 mph regularly. But its his pace along with control on line and length that he was able to rip through the English line up. Again when West Indies toured India he proved his mettle by bowling at over 85mph with control regularly. But during the same series he was forced to face the dishonour of being hit for 6 fours in an over by Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Though Munaf has been the fastest Indian pacer unearthed till now, his injuries are a worrying factor. He has been surrounded by a stint of injuries in his early career only. His rounded bowling action, unsteady head and other reasons has kept him injured most of the time. He missed most of the 2004-05 season playing only three games due to various injuries and was written off by many. He was even sent to the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra for bio-mechanical tests on his bowling action. Munaf was also down due to sore ankle for over two months in the late 2006 and missed almost whole of the tour of South Africa. Due to these varied injuries his speed has dropped from the quick 145 kph to a normal 130 kph. Besides this he isn't quick on the field, another point against him. Even then he has been picked for the world cup 2007 to be held in the Caribbeans. Bets of luck Munaf!
View his stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/32965.html

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Harbhajan Singh

Full name: Harbhajan Singh
Nicknames: Bhajji, Turbanator
Born: July 3, 1980, Jullundur (now Jalandhar), Punjab
Major teams: India, Punjab, Reebok XI, Surrey

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

Test debut: India v Australia at Bangalore - Mar 25-28, 1998

ODI debut: India v New Zealand at Sharjah - Apr 17, 1998

Twenty20 debut: South Africa v India at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
Harbhajan Singh is the only son of businessman Sardar Sardev Singh who owned a ball bearing and valve factory. Bhajji was to take up the family business but he showed interest in sports and specially in cricket. So his father encouraged him to take up cricket as career and reach the national team. Harbhajan was initially trained as a batsman by his first coach, but due to the coach's early demise he took up offspin bowling. Sheer hard work and sweating helped him master spin bowling and become India's most successful offspinner of all times.

Harbhajan made his first class debut in 1997 at the age of 17. Though his performances in the few first class matches he played was just a modest one, he was selected for the national team, ahead of many other better performers. He made his test debut against Australia where he recorded modest figures of 2/136. He was dropped for the ODI series that followed but was selected for ODI series in Sharjah, where he made his ODI debut against New Zealand.

After failing to make a mark in both the ODI and test arena, Harbhajan was regularly dropped from the team. Also Anil Kumble was back in form to head the spin attack. During the two year phase, from 1999 to 2001, Harbhajan Singh remained completely out of international cricket being overlooked as the selectors tried other spinners including Kartik, Sunil Joshi and Sarandeep Singh. The revival for this offspinner came in the Border-Gavaskar trophy held in March, 2001. It was Harbhajan who led the spin attack. He even recorded a hat-trick (Ponting, Gilcrist, Warne) to become the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Tests. He managed to take a whooping 32 wickets in the series claiming well deserved Man of the Series award and two Man of the Match award.

Harbhajan has not been able to maintain that top class form he showed against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Though he was included in the squad for the next series but was subsequently dropped owing to poor performances. After Greg Chappel took over as the coach he has been mainly out of form. His occasional good performances has helped him maintain his place in the squad. The year 2006-07 has seen a drought of wickets for Harbhajan as he failed to quantify on given opportunities. Even then he has been able to make it to the Indian squad for world cup 2007 at the expense of Ramesh Power owing to his previous form.

Hurbhajan has been in news all through his career for one or the other reason. He was reprimanded and fined by the ICC referee in his very first international series as his on-field behaviour was adjudged as breach of ICC code of Conduct. In 2000, when Harbhajan remained out of the team, was expelled on disciplinary grounds by director Hanumant Singh during a training Camp at the National Cricket Academy. In 2002 he sustained minor injuries after he broke into a scuffle with the police personels in Guwahati. Ironically he had been offered the post of an honorary Deputy Superintendent of Punjab Police by the Govt. of Punjab some weeks before. After that he again came into news when he commented on Greg Chappel's tactics. This time he was called by the Punjab Cricket Academy for giving explanations but was not punished after he gave a apology. The most recent case-Harbhajan's appearing in an Royal Stag commercial without a turban created a lot of anger among the orthodox Sikhs.

Bhajji is an aggressive player. He has the rare capability to ball the 'doosra' which is one of the deadliest ball to understand and play. Besides spinning the ball, he can put some quick runs on the board with some huge sixes and lofty fours. He also has to his name 2 fifties while in ODI, he has plenty of 30+ scores.
Veiw Harbhajan's stats athttp://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/29264.html

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Rahul Dravid

Full name: Rahul Sharad Dravid
Nickname: The Wall, Jammy, Mr. Dependable, The Great Wall of India
Born: January 11, 1973, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Major teams: India, Scotland, ACC Asian XI, ICC World XI, Karnataka, Kent
Education: St. Josephs High School

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak
Fielding position: Occasional wicketkeeper

Test debut: England v India at Lord's - Jun 20-24, 1996

ODI debut: India v Sri Lanka at Singapore - Apr 3, 1996

Ceat Cricketer of the 1999 World Cup
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2000
ICC Test Player of the Year 2004
ICC Player of the Year 2004
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy 2004
Padma Shri 2004

PROFILE

Rahul Dravid born in Indore, grew up in Bangalore as his father worked for Kissan, the company known for jams and pickles. This led his friends to call him Jammy. Rahul showed the interest and excelence in batting from a very early age. Dravid first came to prominence whilst attending a summer coaching camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium where his talents were spotted by former cricketer Keki Tarapore who was coaching at the clinic [1]. He went on to score a century on debut for his school team and was selected for the U-15 Karnataka cricket team, scoring a double century against the U-15 Kerala cricket team. Along with batting he was keeping wickets but left that on the advice of former cricketers. He then showed his calibre in the Ranji Trophy and Dullep Trophy to be ready to represent India at international level.

The first few matches for him at the international level were not that good and soon he was dropped.He made a strong comeback to the team when he scored 95 against England on his test debut in 1996 and since then there has been no looking back. He became the backbone of the Indian batting line up batting at no.3 position. Beginning with the reputation of being a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, he was dropped from ODIs as he was slow in making runs. Of late, however, Rahul Dravid has defied early perceptions to become the mainstay of the Indian batting line-up in ODIs as well as in Tests.

After taking up the captaincy from Saurav Ganguly in 2004, he took India onto a winning spree. Under his captaincy India won 8 matches in a row and 15 consequetive matches chasing total. Also Rahul Dravid has been appointed to lead India in the cricket world cup 2007. So lets see if he can win India their II World Cup!

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Ian Bothom

Full name: Ian Terence Botham
Nickname: Beefy, Both, Guy
Born: November 24, 1955, Oldfield, Heswall, Cheshire
Major teams: England, Durham, Queensland, Somerset, Worcestershire
Height: 6.02 ft
Education: Buckler's Mead Secondary School, Yeovil
Relations: Son - LJ Botham


Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium
Other: Commentator

Test debut: England v Australia at Nottingham - Jul 28-Aug 2, 1977
Last Test: England v Pakistan at Lord's - Jun 18-21, 1992

ODI debut: England v West Indies at Scarborough - Aug 26, 1976
Last ODI: England v Pakistan at Manchester - Aug 24, 1992

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1981
Walter Lawrence Trophy 1982
Walter Lawrence Trophy 1985
Awarded the OBE in 1992

PROFILE

Ian Botham was a genuine all-rounder who played for three county teams but most significantly for Somerset CCC.In a Test career spanning 15 years from 1977, he played in 102 matches, scoring 5,200 runs at 33.54; taking 383 wickets at an average of 28.40; and holding 120 catches. In first-class cricket, he scored 19,399 runs at 33.97, took 1,172 wickets at 27.22 and held 354 catches. He was a good limited overs player and was elected a Wisden cricketer of the year in 1978.

Within three years he was captain; within four, he had resigned (a minute before being sacked), his form shot to pieces. Then began the most famous few weeks in English cricket history when Botham (under Mike Brearley's captaincy) led England to an astonishing Ashes victory with three performances - two with bat, one with ball - of mystical brilliance. Every one led to victory and between them they caused a boom in support for English cricket that reverberated through the decade. By the end of it, sober judges were wondering if Botham had done more harm by good by making all England believe, as he did, that cricket matches are won by inspiration not preparation.

Ian Botham was and remains a "larger than life character" and was very popular among many England sport fans. But, having said that, he also had his critics and there are many cricket fans, English as well as Australian and others, who insist that Botham was over-rated. This view is largely based on his lack of success against West Indies, which was the dominant team in cricket during Botham's career. Although Botham's performances against Australia in 1981 were spectacular, Botham did not produce anything like the same results against the more powerful West Indies team. Now he has settled into a calm-ish middle age as a TV commentator of some wit and sagacity.

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Andy Roberts

Full name: Anderson Montgomery Everton Roberts
Born: January 29, 1951, Urlings Village, Antigua
Major teams: West Indies, Combined Islands, Hampshire, Leeward Islands, Leicestershire, New South Wales

Batting Style: Right-hand bat
Bowling Style: Right-arm fast

Test Debut: West Indies v England at Bridgetown - Mar 6-11, 1974
Last Test: West Indies v India at Chennai - Dec 24-29, 1983

ODI Debut: West Indies v Sri Lanka at Manchester - Jun 7,1975
Last ODI: West Indies v India at Jamshedpur - Dec 7, 1983

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1975
Played for New South Wales 1976-77.

PROFILE
AME Roberts was an excellent fast bowler, twice taking seven wickets in an innings of a Test match. In England, he played first class cricket for Hampshire County Cricket Club.Andy Roberts formed part of the "quartet" of West Indian fast bowlers from the mid-Seventies to the early Eighties (the others being Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft) which had such a devastating effect on opposition batsmen at both Test and One Day International level. He was also part of the West Indies team that won the first two Prudential World Cups in England in 1975 and 1979.

In October, 2005, Roberts was inducted into the United States Cricket Hall of Fame, becoming the second Antiguan to be so recognized.Despite an excellent record in Tests his international career was relatively short and ended in the early 1980s. Imran Khan (former captain Pakistan national cricket team) once described a ball bowled to him by Andy Roberts as the fastest and most terrifying he had ever faced.
Also Visit http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/52817.html

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Gordon Greenidge

Full name: Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge
Born: May 1, 1951, Black Bess, St Peter, Barbados
Major Teams: Scotland, West Indies, Barbados, Hampshire

Batting Style: Right-hand bat

Test Debut: West Indies v India at Bangalore - Nov 22-27, 1974
Last Test: West Indies v Australia at St John's - Apr 27-May 1, 1991

ODI Debut West Indies v Pakistan at Birmingham - Jun 11, 1975
Last ODI West Indies v England at Manchester - May 25, 1991

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1977
Walter Lawrence Trophy 1978

PROFILE
Brooding and massively destructive, the power of Gordon Greenidge's strokeplay on any given day appeared to bear a direct relationship to the degree that he limped when running between the wickets. In such a mood he didn't run much anyway and his brutal unbeaten 214 at Lord's in 1984, to set up a nine-wicket win after England had had the temerity to declare, is considered one of the great innings. He was a superb technician, who learned solid defensive techniques on the pudding pitches of his childhood in England and then allied them to an uninhibited Caribbean heritage. Attacking was in his genes. Never in the game has there been a more withering and dismissive square-cut, nor a more willing and able hooker and puller, but he drove mightily too on both sides of the wicket. With Desmond Haynes he formed what was by a distance the most enduring and prolific opening partnership of them all, with 16 century stands, four of them in excess of 200. And they were just the hors d'oeuvres.

Also Visit http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/51901.html

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Clive Lloyd

Full Name: Clive Hubert Lloyd
Born: 31 August 1944, Queenstown, Georgetown, Demerara, British Guiana
Major Teams: British Guiana, Guyana, Lancashire, West Indies.

Batting Style: Left Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Medium
Other: ICC Match Referee

Test Debut: West Indies v India at Bombay, 1st Test, 1966/67
Last Test: West Indies v Australia at Sydney, 5th Test 1984/85

ODI Debut: West Indies v England at Leeds, Prudential Trophy, 1973
Last ODI: West Indies v Pakistan at Melbourne, World championship of Cricket,1984/85

Wisden cricketer of the year 1971

PROFILE
6'5" with stooped shoulders, a large moustache and thick glasses, Clive Lloyd was the crucial ingredient in the rise of West Indian cricket. A cousin of Lance Gibbs, he was a hard-hitting batsmen and one of the most successful captains in history. An almost ponderous, lazy gait belied the speed and power at his command and the astute tactical brain that led the West Indies to the top of world cricket for two decades.

Clive Lloyd captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s. He is still one of the most successful Test captains of all time: during his captaincy the side had a run of 27 matches without defeat, which included 11 wins in succession. Lloyd captained the West Indies in three World Cups. They won the 1975 final (Lloyd scoring a majestic century) and the 1979 final. They were very strong favourites for the 1983 final but surprisingly lost to India.

He scored over 7500 runs at Test level, at an average of 46.67. His scholarly appearance and slight stoop masked his obvious talent as a batsman. He wore his famous glasses due to a fight when he was young at school, which damaged his eyes. He hit 77 sixes in his Test career, which is the sixth highest number of any player. He played for his home nation of Guyana in West Indies domestic cricket, and for Lancashire (he was made captain in 1981) in England. His Test match debut came in 1966. In 1971 he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year. He is a cousin of spin bowler Lance Gibbs.

Since retiring as a player, Lloyd has remained heavily involved in cricket, managing the West Indies in the late 1990s, and coaching and commentating. He is currently an ICC match referee.

Also Visit http://www.icc-cricket.com/db/PLAYERS/WI/L/LLOYD_CH_04001286/index.ICCCT2004MISwide.html

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