Five Indian Cricketers

FB is on a short assignment in India.  While he is away he has left a few posts in the bowling machine summarising some of the things India means to him.  

Fantasy Bob always found it a joy to watch the Indians when Test match cricket used to be available on the BBC.  He shared their joy at the first series victory in England in 1971and their first World Cup triumph in 1983.  Each touring side had special players who would go on to join the greats.  It is a hard choice, but here are Fantasy Bob's 5 all-time favourite Indian cricketers

Bishan Bedi -  67 Tests 266 wickets at 28.71.  He captained India on 22 occasions.  For FB Bedi is eternal, the epitome of the Indian spinner. A smooth effortless action that was a thing of beauty in itself and that kept the ball on a string. Bedi has referred to T20 cricket as 'the most vulgar expression of cricket' another factor that endears him to FB. He finished his career with 1560 in first-class wickets — more than any other Indian.

Kapil Dev - 131 tests 5248 runs @ 31.05; 434 wickets @ 29.64.  Kapil retired in 1994 as one of the great all rounders, holding the world record for the most number of wickets taken in Test cricket, a record subsequently broken by Courtney Walsh in 2000. At the time, he was also India's highest wicket taker in both major forms of cricket, Tests and ODIs).  He is the only player in the history of cricket to have taken more than 400 wickets and scored more than 5,000 runs in Tests. On 8 March 2010, Kapil Dev was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.  He captained India to their first World Cup vistory in 1983.

Farokh Engineer - 46 Tests 2611 runs @ 31.08; 82 dismissals  India's first-choicewicket-keeper during the 1970s and a Lancashire favourite.  An ebullient cricketer, a highly useful, stylish and very aggressive batsman.

Mohinder Armanath - 69 Tests 4,378 runs @ 42.50, with 11 hundreds and 24 fifties.  Rated by many of his oppnents as the greatest batsman they faced although he was in and out of the Indian side.  In 85 ODIs, he scored 1,924 runs at 30.53. Mohinder Amarnath is also the one and only Indian who has been dismissed on handling the ball and obstructing the field in One-Day Internationals.

Raul Dravid - 164 Tests, 13288 runs @ 52.31, 36 centuries, also slip supreme with 210 catches.  Of all the great talents in the recently passed and passing golden generation, it is Dravid that FB admires most.  Others may take the limelight but Dravid delivers for the team. And he played for Scotland.  On 14 December 2011, he became the first non-Australian cricketer to address at the Bradman Oration - his speech is well worth reading for his open and convincing analysis of the issues facing the modern game.