'Tendulkar is No.1' – Ravi Shastri names his five greatest Indian cricketers of all time

Legendary former India cricketer and ex-head coach Ravi Shastri has named his five greatest Indian cricketers of all time. Shastri made the revelation while appearing as a guest on the Stick to Cricket podcast, hosted by Michael Vaughan, Alastair Cook, David Llyod, and Phil Tufnell. His list caused debate because it missed some of India's biggest stars.

Shastri's top five were Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni—thus missing out on legends like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, and Rohit Sharma. Tendulkar was No. 1 on Shastri's list with respect to the Little Master's incredible longevity, technique, and because of who he played against during his playing career.

"No. 1 would be Tendulkar because of the expectations and because of longevity, for having played 24 years in the game. 100 hundreds,” said Shastri. “He played every pace attack of that decade. He started playing against Wasim (Akram), Waqar (Younis), and Imran (Khan). Then went on to the Aussies. Then the English attack Broady (Stuart Broad) and (James) Anderson, and the South Africans attack (Jacques) Kallis, Shaun (Pollock), and Allan Donald. He is pure, technique-wise and following-wise.”

Ganguly, Dravid, Rohit, and Kumble miss out

Sourav Ganguly and Rohit Sharma, two captains who have led India to ICC titles, were not part of Shastri's list. Ganguly had led India to victory in the 2002 Champions Trophy and the final of the 2003 World Cup. Rohit, despite leading India to the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup title, was also omitted.

Also missing were Rahul Dravid—India's second-highest run-getter in Tests—and Anil Kumble, India's top wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs. Instead, Shastri picked World Cup-winning captains Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni and included Virat Kohli, India’s most successful Test captain during Shastri’s coaching tenure. Sunil Gavaskar, the first batter to cross 10,000 runs in Test cricket and a trailblazer in Indian batting, rounded off the top five.