Not Sachin, Dhoni Or Virat! Sunil Gavaskar Names Indian Cricket Team's No. 1 Cricketer

Sunil Gavaskar believes all-rounder Kapil Dev is the No.1 Indian cricketer, whose stellar leadership helped team India beat West Indies to lift their maiden World Cup title at Lord's in England.

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The Indian cricket team, also known as the Men in Blue, with the emergence of some legendary players in all eras has gained strength over the years to establish itself as one of the best cricket team's in the entire world. Many players, especially batsmen, helped team India gain prominence but who is the greatest Indian cricketer of all time is a debate that has been widely discussed. 

Indian cricket team's former captain Sunil Gavaskar has also named his all-time number 1 Indian cricketer. While greats like Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni have made the nation proud several times on international stage, for Gavaskar, No.1 Indian cricketer is Kapil Dev - under whose leadership, team India on June 25 1983, won their first-ever World Cup trophy.

“Top of everything would be Kapil Dev, he would be No.1. For me, he is the best. All-time No.1 will always be Kapil Dev,” Gavaskar told India Today.

Before the start of the tournament, the Indian team were tagged as the 'Underdogs'. However, captain Kapil's stellar leadership throughout the tournament helped India beat two-time World Champion West Indies to lift their maiden World Cup title at Lord's in England.

“He could win the match with the bat and with the ball. He would take the wickets and win the match for you. He would score a scorching hundred or quickfire 80-90 and turn the game around. He made an impact with the bat. He made an impact with the ball. Don’t forget all those catches that he took. So he was a complete cricketer,” Gavaskar added.

“Both Dhoni and Kapil were very, very similar. Both had similar approaches to the game. They loved playing the game. Both of them loved being in the center of action and they wanted to achieve great things for their teams. In that way, both are very similar,” Gavaskar said.

Kapil Dev played 131 Tests and 225 ODIs, scoring 5248 and 3783 runs in Tests and ODI respectively before he announced his retirement in 1994. After Kapil Dev, wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni led the Indian team to their second 50-overs World Cup win in the 2011 World Cup.